Happy First Birthday Noah!

Happy First Birthday Noah!!!

Sweet boy, I don't even know what to say.  I feel like I need a few rough drafts of this post to tell you just how much you mean to me, and how surreal this year has been for our family.  I'm still learning, and thank you for loving me and lighting up every time you see me.  I need that every day to realize we are doing a good job as parents.

Parenting is so hard, and we want to do our best to keep you safe and to give you the best life possible so you can grow up and make a difference in the world.  I don't want to rush anything, but I love watching you play and explore, and I imagine the young man you will be one day.  I have so much hope for you, and I am thankful for the man of God I know you will be.  You will be a leader who will change the world!  You will love those around you, you will help others, you will be responsible, you will respect yourself and your elders, you will be honest, carefree, adventurous, empathetic, creative, and fun.  How do I know this about you?  I'm your mommy, and I trust God will guide your daddy and me to help you grow into the young man He created you to be.

My hope for you is that a day never goes by without you knowing how much we love you.  I will plant 1,000 kisses on your face every day if that's what it takes to make you feel special.  YOU ARE SPECIAL...and perfect!  You are perfectly and wonderfully made, you are you, and there is no one in the world like you.  Never believe you aren't good enough.  You were made who you are by your Creator for a purpose.  Always love your uniqueness.

This year with you has challenged me and your daddy more than anything we have ever endured.  You are our greatest accomplishment and greatest blessing, and I pray that we see you as a gift every single day, no matter how tired or stressed we are.  Thank you for making your daddy and me a team. Thank you for making us stronger and for building our bond.  I have never loved your daddy more, and I have you to thank for that.  Whenever I think there is not enough space in my heart to love you or your daddy more, somehow my heart expands and my love keeps growing!

Noah, we love you so much!  Happy Birthday buddy!

Noah's First Christmas

Noah's First Christmas turned out a little differently than expected.  We planned to travel to Arkansas and have Christmas with lots of family, but Noah started getting sick the Sunday before Christmas.  By Monday, he developed a nasty cough, so we made a doctor's appointment for him on Tuesday (the day we were supposed to leave), just to have piece of mind before traveling.  Noah tested positive for RSV, and our pediatrician recommended we stick around for an extra day or two to get him well.

Unfortunately, Noah ran a fever for 6 days in a row and was pitiful...so pitiful that he happily snuggled with each of us in the chair and sat still!  (The only positive about him being sick).  We were still going to travel Christmas Day, but Noah wasn't better, so we sadly decided to stay at home. We had a sweet, quiet Christmas for three.  We got up Christmas morning and opened a few gifts then bundled ourselves up and went to the Boulder Fields to hike and to let Noah inhale fresh, cold air.  Because of all the rain lately, the hike was beautiful.  Not a soul was in sight, and the waterfalls were gorgeous.  What a gem to have such a beautiful place just 15 minutes away in the middle of Birmingham!

Christmas night, we ordered Chinese from our favorite restaurant and watched Christmas Vacation.  We went to bed pretty early, and Noah slept well for the first time in days.  His fever finally broke the day after Christmas, and he has been better ever since.  Unfortunately, he still has a yucky cough.  We were really sad that so many people who wanted to see Noah at Christmas didn't get the opportunity, but we made the right decision by having him stay at home.

Yesterday, we met my dad half way in Memphis to exchange gifts.  We ate lunch then went to a park and let Noah try out his new Radio Flyer tricycle.  It was freezing outside, but he had fun for the few minutes he rode.  His Gimmie is coming for his birthday, and he will have an extra special time opening all of his Christmas and birthday gifts.  I pray that he is well for his birthday!

I hope you and your families had a Merry Christmas!

Snuggling with Daddy

Ready to open presents!

Christmas Morning...I will treasure this precious picture always.

His favorite present?  A box of boxes of course!

Christmas morning hike with the kiddos

Opening presents

Merry Christmas from the McGreeveys!

Noah is 11 (almost 12) Months Old!

Time flies when you are parenting!  I'm lucky if I have time to get out of the door in two hours for work, and on my days off, I'm lucky to even shower.  That's life with a little monkey like Noah.  He's everywhere, and he's not even walking yet.  Help!!!  Ha!  It's all good, he's a precious little monkey, and we are so blessed to have him.

Noah is a joy to be around these days.  He is an explorer who can get from one room to the next in less than a second.  I turn around and he is gone. His favorite room is the bathroom, and it drives me crazy!  He loves the toilet and the bathtub...the bathtub I can deal with, but the toilet drives me nuts.  The bathroom door stays shut these days.  He also loves getting into his toy baskets and dumping everything out and putting it back in.  He loves to open and close books, and he likes big puzzles and playing with his mini basketball goal.  His favorite thing to do is push objects.  He will push his highchair from one side of the room to the other and instead of wanting to always walk in his walker, he would rather push it.

He is an adventurous eater as well, which is great!  He loves everything I give him for the most part, but his favorites are meat and potatoes, especially sweet potatoes. He is great at drinking from a sippy  cup, but he still takes bottles and nurses.  He is still waking up at night, but we are hopeful that will end soon.

Noah can wave "hi" and "bye bye."  He points and shares and dances.  He can give a high five.  He likes to bang his hands on everything.  He laughs when we laugh, and he understands "no" although he doesn't necessarily like to listen!  He can say "bye bye," and mumbles a lot while he plays.  He likes to pick up things and show us.  He loves to pull up on everything and play underneath the table. He is fascinated by running water and loves to take baths.  He loves to take off his socks.  He is still a little guy, weighing in at just under 20 pounds.

My favorite picture of Noah from our fall photo session

This mess was made in seconds, notice he's pushing his caterpillar

Fun times with daddy!

Eating meatloaf and peas...he wants to share the peas for some reason :)

He looks like a little boy!

Love his chunky legs!

He opened a box of crackers while I was attempting to use the bathroom...Scarlett thought it was awesome!

Basketball!!!

Driving Scarlett crazy!

He's the sweetest!