"Daddy!"

I love looking at Noah's truck book with him. He is convinced that the man on the last page is "Daddy!" It makes me laugh every time....What do you think?

Fort Collins, CO

For Labor Day weekend we went to Colorado to visit Danny's cousin, Becky. It was such a good and relaxing time. We loved hanging out with the fam and playing many games of Blokus. Noah was in wonderland the whole weekend playing with the kiddos, the dogs, and big boy swords. We were also glad to be there on a Sunday when Cyrus was preaching. Well, as you can see in the picture, that will be our last vacation for a while...

20 mths & all boy

We are having so much with Noah these days. He's getting big so fast and we are discovering and loving his personality. I just wanted to blog some things I want to remember.

Noah,
We went to the Gaithersburg airpark today, and you loved watching the planes take off. Your senses are so sharp and your dad and I laugh when you hear or see a plane from galaxies away. You instantly throw your hands up and point to the sky at the sound of an engine. You love trucks too. We just had a 6 hour drive to and back from NC, and you whoo whoo'd at them all. We went with Tata and Gido, and they couldn't get enough of you. They hate saying goodbye to you.

Your favorite toys are the vacuum, popper, lawn mower, any ball, our car, and dada's shoes. Your favorite songs are the ones you like to do motions to- "Oh Be Careful Little Eyes", "If You're Happy and You Know It", and "This Little Light of Mine" (this one you like in Arabic too). However, you're favorite song is the one you wake up singing to and point at my Ipod for me to play. The song is "Christ is Risen." You only know 2 words of it right now, and you get SO excited befor the part plays. The words are "Oh da, " as the words to the song are "Oh death where is your sting? Oh Hell, Where is your Victory?, Oh Church..." You don't miss any of those "Oh's." You are starting to say more words, but we love when you poke us and say "mama" and "dada."

You're starting to help out by handing me the groceries to put away, putting your dishes in the sink, and wiping away your messes. You are starting to eat well with a spoon and a fork unless it's yogurt. You get too excited and use your hands. I can dip just about anything in yogurt an you'll eat it. You love to help out and get frustrated if you can't. Today you brought me your broken keyboard and pointed to where I keep the batteries for me to change them out. Unfortunately it really was broken, and you gasped when you saw it in the trash can. I hope to find you another one. You love music. You will only watch T.V if there is singing & motions involoved.

You know where Chloe is, and sometimes you think she's in your belly. You're going to be a great big brother. You're a good friend to your best buddy, Makenna, assuring her paci is always in her mouth. And you love to feed her :) There have been some conflicts between you two, but over all we've seen lots of growth and you now play so well together. We love you so much and will never be able to express the amount of joy you have brought into our lives.

you in dada's baseball jersey when he was 5

Makenna going in for a kiss from you

first bike ride

The Little Inn at Washington & Luray Caverns

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary early this year. We went somewhere in VA to the Little Inn at Washington. It was a delightful time as long as I didn't think about the tab after our 3 hour and 7 course meal at the Inn. Danny had to keep reminding me that we had 2 free night stays at the Marriot and that we would probably never do this again.

The atmosphere there and more importantly, the food was absolutely amazing. I giggled so much just from being there. The couple beside us ordered so much wine, and every time it came by, we heard the wine specialist give a 10 minute dissertation on each wine. We tried to record him, but were unsuccessful. Clearly, it wasn't this couples first time. I wonder what they were thinking as I snapped pictures of everything we ate :) (Yes I know...simple minds, simple pleasures). Our new camera has arrived and we wanted to play with it. Here are some pics of our favorite dishes, but I can't remember what exactly we ate. We also hit the Luray Caverns the following day.

Danny, Thanks again for an amazing time! I really enjoyed recounting all that the Lord has done and worked through in our lives the past 3 years. Hasn't He been so good? I really am so amazed at how perfectly you were designed for me in every detail! I am so happy being married to you as we walk through life together. Thank you for your desire to bless me through this trip when you could have planned a dinner at Panera to make me happy. Happy Anniversary hubster!

July Beach trip

I can't believe it's August already. I am so far behind in posting as our days and weekends have been so full. We spent 9 days at Bethany beach back in July and had a few days there with Mom-mom and Grandpa. As much as we love the beach, we were so pooped (literally as Noah had diarrhea the entire week) that we came home a day early to rest. It was such a great time and our over-stimulated child enjoyed every minute of it. One of our favorite moments was when we were at Rehobeth, and they had to stop the swing ride he was on to take down a crying kid. Noah wasn't too thrilled and started signing "more please" to the operator. We are proud parents of our little beach bum :)

Loved the planes that flew by! I plan on taking him to an airport this week.

Loved all the rides in Rehobeth...

but maybe would rather be at the beach

and a toy for Noah from dada's win in skee ball

Pottstown PA

Not my favorite place, but if you husband can play some amazing volleyball, it's a lot of fun. This past weekend Danny and his buddy Eric played in the annual Pottstown rumble. It was a long 2 days and A LOT of volleyball. If you play well the 1st day, you go on to the 2nd day. If you play well the 2nd day, you keep playing until you lose. Being the positive wife that I am, I thought we would be home early the 2nd day. I told Danny it was a win-win situation- If he wins, great! If not, we go see Noah! Well, after every win Danny came to me and said, "sorry we can't go home baby." Who would've thought that after playing only twice this year and competing against 75 teams, they would end up in the semi-finals finishing at 3rd place :) He is gifted in his athletic abilities, but I'm always more impressed at how he glorifies his Creator with it. I love his sportsmanship. I love how he uses sports to reach out to others, how he's joyful after every win or loss, how he encourages others, how he remains silent when the trash talk is audible, and how he transfers the glory to God through it all. I look forward to him training our kids, and I look forward to watching :)

And the Devries (love those guys) left us a warm welcome to come home to:

He couldn't have said it better...

Happy dada's day. We're missing you!

Chloe prep

Danny and I woke up from a nap while Noah was playing in our room. Who needs toys when you have a hairbrush and a sundress to drag. He played with the both for a good hour.

I like to think he's excited for a little sister. He loves to push strollers, especially pink ones his size.

And now for some manly pictures...

April/May Pics

post Butler's strawberry picking

one for me

one for gido
Easter
more Easter
St. Thomas (love the questionable prego state)
us at the world's most beautiful beach, Cinnamon Bay

and us with the world's cutest couple, Paul & Lauren :)

Camping pics to come!

life

I blog so my kids can look back one day and see some of our favorite adventures of our lives.
Kiddos- I hope you guys realize that with all the joys there have been times that have been not so joyful. Times of discouragement, testing of our faith, and just pure sanctification. Mom and Dad are sinners, (mom can be a very angry one), but the cross has not left us there. Our Savior has cleansed us of these sins and where sin has been present, grace has abounded! He has been faithful to help and uphold us. Because of the cross and the resurrection our hope has been secured and we have power to persevere and change our sinful hearts.

I love the series we've done at church on the resurrection and it's power. This song speaks great volume in my times of discouragement:

How do we know we’ve been forgiven?
How do we know that we’ve been made clean?
How do we know we’ll go to heaven?
How do we know we’ve been redeemed?

You have been raised, the tomb has been opened
Nothing can take away our hope in You
You have been raised, the work is completed
Hell and its powers have been defeated

Now we are free from condemnation
There is no judgment left for us to fear
We don’t have to wonder if we’re welcome
You are the One who’s brought us near

The price You paid for us
Has fully been accepted
Because of Your shed blood
We cannot be rejected

Chloe

We've been waiting for this day since we found out we were pregnant. Today we found out that our long awaited Chloe will be joining the family. Boy names have been challenging for us to pick out, but Chloe was both one of our favorite girl name since we've been engaged. We got to see her face, her long arms and legs, and her feet today. I love our little girl, and I look forward to embracing her this fall. I'm having a little hard time with the fact that there will be pink stuff in our home, so she might look like a tomboy for a while :) In the meantime I am trying to enjoy my days with Noah. He loves to play with momma ALL the time. Fortunately the weather has been wonderful, and we've had many long walks and park time together. I've given up on our camera as the batteries die after one click. Once we have accumulated more Best Buy giftcards, I will have my Mother's day/Bday/Anniversary/ Christmas gift. Now I'm off to sort through lots of pink :)

My bday at Filomenas

Yesterday was my birthday, and I couldn't have asked for a better day. The hubster was supposedly out of town until Thursday, but being the man I know him to be, he surprised me a day early. I guess you could say it was a surprise. Like I said, I know him too well and yes I was suspicious, but not until the day before. He did good. I walked into the kitchen that morning finding a vase of flowers and a card awaitng me. Who needs Proflowers when you got the Devries? So my cousins were "supposedly" picking me up for dinner, but long story short, I was able to meet and greet my knight in shining armor a day early. Surprise!

Here's the good part. We went to Georgetown and ate at Filomenas, an Italian restaurant. YUM, YUM, YUM! I can't get over how amazing the food was. It was reasonably priced, and I was so excited to have enough for lunch the next day. Unfortunately, Danny finished his plate, but if he wasn't so embarrassed by me I would've asked them to box his leftover white sauce. I don't think I could ever eat at another Italian place. At first I was alarmed with their holiday decor. It was pretty scary how many Easter bunnies there were in that place. There were bunnies in baskets hanging everywhere. Anyway, we topped off the night with a walk and a strawberry chocolate crepe at Snap, and it was just a very enjoyable evening. I felt like we were dating :) And did I mention the gorgeous weather that day? Much needed for someone with seasonal affective disorder. I did take pictures! A few of the bunnies and one of us...

bunny in convertible

bunnies greeting you at the entrance

bunny in a bicycle (from the ceiling)
the happy couple

Expecting, Noah, and St. Thomas

The title pretty much sums up the past month or so. We are eagerly anticipating the arrival of baby Sutton number 2 in early October! This pregnancy has been pretty much the same as the first- nauseated, vomiting and narcoleptic. I seriously can sleep on demand. I'm hoping the symptoms will get better sooner than it did with Noah though. It's been really tough at times, but there has been much grace. I must say one of the biggest blessings has been having the Devries living downstairs. Hannah has blessed Danny with dinner several times sparing him from consecutive nights of PBJ :) I really need a seperate post on how wonderful it's been having them live here!

With the influence of his friend Makenna, who pretty much started walking from birth, Noah finally started walking on his own at 15 months. He still does the Frankenstein maneuver to help keep his balance, but he's doing it! His latest toys/obsessions has been the vacuum and the vitamix. He will sit outside both the closet and the cabinet where they are stored and "whoo whoo" for long periods. My dad will vacuum the whole house when he's here to make him happy. No complaints there. And mommy consoles him when they are turned off. We took him to the zoo on the one warm day we had in March, and the kid was pretty bored. All the animals we looked at- elephants, gorillas, lions, and tigers were prety much stationary. None of them moved so they had his attention for only a few seconds. He did enjoy the little jumping monkeys in the ape house. All that to say, Baby Einstein's, Old Macdonald is much more enjoyable for a 15 month old. He's learning to say "E-I-E-I-O" too. It still sounds more like "O-O-O-O-O." I still think he's a smart cookie.

And finally, we went to St. Thomas for 5 days last week, and what can I say? It was absolutely beautiful! Noah stayed at home with my parents, and did awesome. It was the club trip for Danny's job which is always a fun and FREE treat. You get really cool free stuff while you're there too. One of the highlights was spending time with our good friends, Paul and Lauren Rohwer. Lots of laughs and memories hoarding bottled water, eating the worlds best chocolate desert, dodging from iguanas and our all time fave, snorkeling. I lost our camera before we left (surprise, surprise) so I will post some pics up when I get them from Lauren, our photographer. And the second highlight was being upgraded to first class for FREE on the plane ride home. What a treat- a free meal with a warm chocolate chip cookie, a lemon in my always filled glass of water, and a chair I could actually sleep in. Danny and I were giggling the whole time with excitement that neither one of us slept. It was fun, but a tutorial on where and how to get the tray out would have been helpful. It was a much needed and relaxing trip. Ok, now for some random pics..

Noah's encouragement note for his sick momma (thanks for the help dada)

making a messCleaning his mess. He really is domesticated-don't know where he get's it from making another mess loving his vacuum

trying on clothes

enjoying monkeys March Madness time! not enjoying the Lions

Totswap joys

I hope to blog soon, but I had to upload this. This has been our favorite video. You'll get the best laugh after round 2 :)

Noah's game

full time mom

"The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps. " Proverbs 16:9

About a month ago, Danny and I decided for me to stop working so I could stay at home full time. This was not an easy decision. I loved my job, and despite the emotional, mental, and physical challenges I truly enjoyed being a surgical oncology nurse. So often I reminisce of all the wonderful moments I shared with the gifted staff and patients. I had an amazing supervisor, a fun and active working environment, many friends, and an overall rewarding career. Why would I let that all go? The pay was a blessing too, but that's really not what I miss until a holiday comes by :( I was only working part time towards the end, but through recurring circumstancs, I felt the Lord strongly tugging on my heart to come home. I had to rethink my priorities and my desires, and I felt an attack on my pride. I wanted to work. We didn't need me too, but I wanted to be that mom that could do it all. It was so hard letting go of a 6 year career I knew and did so well. I still needed the Lord then, but I was getting comfortable. I really do feel it's easier being at work sometimes than at home. I am definitely more aware of my dependenc on the Lord and growing in my trust in the Lord being a mom. It was hard to say goodbye to the nurses I loved and laughed with so much, and the patients I deeply cared for. I couldn't have asked for a better place to work. When I was in nursing school, one of the first thing I said was that I didn't want to be an oncology nurse. I didn't think I could handle it. Only the Lord knew what was best for me, and in his kindness, brought me to a unit I would've never thought existed. He was too kind. I plan on maintaining my friendships and am enjoying becoming more effective at home, especially in the kitchen :) Although I want to keep my license, the plan is to stay home for now. Down the road I would love to pick up a few shifts here and there, but only if the Lord wills.

a disturbing day

A few days ago, one of my worst fears became a reality. If it wasn't for my faithful friend and Hero, Hannah, I don't know where I would be. Here's what took place:

Hannah: Noah, what's in your mouth?
Me: I don't know, but one of these days I'm afraid it will be a stinkbug

Hannah: Oh my! It is a stinkbug!
Me: (with palpitations) screams and panics
Noah: cry

Hannah SO KINDLY removed the stink bug out of his mouth, and when Noah kept chewing, she proceeded to remove the other half. I'm still very much disturbed by it all. I will trust that the Lord would have granted special grace for me to take it out if she wasn't there, but I am so SO GRATEFUL she was. Noah was a little shakin by it all, and so I put him on his ride to make him happy, and then he had a little accident...

He never rides over the step! But it was a rough day for him. He's still so alarmed, that just about everytme I say his name with concern he just sticks out his tongue. So, to remove any unwanted images you have in your mind, here's some normal things Noah is getting in to...