Easter Celebration

We spent a portion of the Easter weekend in Jackson visiting family.

Easter egg hunts with cousins are just plain fun!

Anna Ruth got some snuggle time with GG while the big kids hunted eggs.

Dying Easter eggs was almost as fun as hunting them.

 We celebrated Lottie's birthday (a little early) at lunch. 

She acted shy and like she didn't want to be the center of attention while we sang to her but a short time later she was literally standing on the table singing for her adoring fans...so don't be fooled.

This trip resulted in a lot of tree climbing as well.

Lottie was in charge of moving the eggs around the back yard.

 Easter Sunday was a beautiful day.
We had a great day at church and ate lunch with sweet friends.

These two kiddos looked sharp!

Anna Ruth: 11 months old

As we round the corner on her first birthday, Anna Ruth is loving 11-months old.

On Monday (4/14) she started pulling up on the furniture.

She pulls up everywhere and is initially quite proud of herself but then gets mad because she doesn't know how to get down.

Anna Ruth continues to be a very happy baby.  Lots of laughing and talking.  She loves music and squeals with delight when the radio is turned on in the car.

She has been such a blessing to our family.  We are grateful for a healthy little girl!

check out the other new post below...

Now up to bat... #7!

The Iron Eagles (formerly known as the Tiger Sharks) took to the field for their first game last week.

It was a beautiful, warm evening at the ball park and little boys were running around with excitement about playing t-ball for the first time.

Joshua Nolen is wearing #7 this year and hoping to channel the likes of Mickey Mantle in his inaugural t-ball season.

The first batter up for Joshua's team hit the ball on the first swing and then fielded his own hit and proceeded to throw the ball at the in-fielder from close range.

Later in the game 6 of the 12 players on Joshua's team were in a dog pile in the outfield fighting over the ball, requiring coach to call timeout and have a team meeting in center field to discuss teamwork.  (We are happy to report Joshua was playing third base that inning and not involved in the scuffle, he was staring into space and oblivious to the action.  I am confident, had he been paying attention, he would have taken a flying leap onto the pile of eager golden gloves.)

getting ready to warm up

 

Joshua's first at bat was a success!

discussing base running strategy with his coach

game face?

"throw it to me, I'm open!"

"letting my head breath"

"I ran super fast out there, kind of like a cheetah.  I wish we were the Iron Cheetahs and not the Iron Eagles."

This is what happens to most of the boys on the team each time a plane flew over the field and with the airport only a few blocks away and the weather nice, there were several planes that flew over.

T-town with friends

Last weekend we were blessed to get to spend the weekend in Tuscaloosa visiting longtime friends we hadn't seen in ages.  Of course we took no pictures with said friends, but trust us they were there and we loved getting to catch up and introduce them to our kids.

Joshua enjoyed walking around campus.  He took a moment to pose with each of the coach statues at the stadium.  I was only quick enough to get this picture.  The other poses were just as funny.

nervous he would call off statue, there was no posing this time

beautiful tulips at the President's mansion
(this is a good shot of JP)

(and this one is good of AR)
JP had just had enough picture taking at this point

We were reminded again of how the body of Christ can be a tool for edification and love.  We were able to spend good time with two families we love dearly and even though years have passed and we all live apart the Lord has been gracious to preserve our friendship.  

The Nolens are thankful for the Vargos and the Hardys!

talking baby

Anna Ruth loves to talk to us.

This video reminds me of a similar video of Joshua (see it here).

put me in coach...

Joshua is ready to play t-ball.  Actually, he really wants to play baseball and skip the hitting off the tee stuff.

He was very excited for his first practice.  He thought he was hot stuff with his new glove and bat that Coach and Nana gave him.

Coach started practice off by asking the boys what they wanted their team name to be.  With 12 boys on the team there were 12 different suggestions.

Joshua did great at practice.  He hit the ball several times and had a great time throwing the ball to his teammate.  Catching the ball however, is not yet something that could be listed on Joshua's baseball card as a strong suit.

The stance = perfected!

By the end of practice, the team name was narrowed down from 12 to 3 choices....lions, tigers, and sharks.  The final decision = "tiger sharks because lion sharks aren't real."

Go Tiger Sharks!

Anna Ruth: 10 months old

How do the months go by so quickly?  Our little baby is turning into a little girl and I can't her stop!

These two.  They love each other!

Anna Ruth is all smiles about turning 10 months old.
She loves to laugh and talks up a storm.  I'm not ready to declare "mama" as her first word but she uses it pretty consistently when I (amelia) come into the room.

You can't tell from this picture but Anna Ruth has 8 teeth.  She puts everything in her mouth and will chew on a teether for hours.  She continues to be a good eater.  She loves baby food and tolerates "big people" food.  I think she prefers to be fed and doesn't want to bother with putting solid food in her own mouth...such a princess!

Anna Ruth is very curious.  Now that she is crawling (and crawling fast) she is into everything.  She especially loves Joshua's toys...they taste the best.

Sleeping patterns have had their hiccups with teething in full force but for the most part, this sweet girl loves to sleep.

Nicknames have been a topic of discussion in our house and on the blog since we found out Anna Ruth was a girl.  Currently she has quite a list of nicknames that are used regularly.  The most common are "Punkapoo" and "JuJu."  We call her "Punkapoo" at home and her teacher at school calls her "JuJu" (short for "Juicy").  Don't worry, we are starting to raise funds for the therapy she will require later in life.

Joshua is an awesome big brother.  He looks after Anna Ruth and is concerned about all things that pertain to her.  He makes sure to kiss and hug her every morning when we drop her off with her teacher and every night before he goes to bed.  This morning I was uploading this pictures while Joshua was eating breakfast and the following conversation took place:
J: "Oh mama, Punka is so cute in those pictures."
A: "She sure is.  I especially like this one of the two of you together."
J: "Yeah, it's good.  You know, that reminds me.  Are you going to get her up this morning?  Because I'm ready for her to wake up so I can say 'good morning.'"
 

a girl and her lovie

Anna Ruth loves her lovie.

As long as she has it close by she is primed for a good rest.

Her at-home lovie is a purple hippo, sometimes she holds 2 at once.

Her at-school lovie is a pink rabbit.

As she is falling asleep she usually holds it in her left hand and tries to suck her thumb and love her lovie at the same time.

I can't think of much cuter than this little girl!

A good night's sleep always makes for a happy baby!

lots of energy

The cold, wet weather has left the Boy Wonder in our house with a terrible case of cabin fever.  For him cabin fever can quickly lead to things that require consequences and discipline.  So in order to help him channel his energy he can often be seen exercising around our house.

push-ups

the wall sit

catching his break after 25 jumping jacks

and ending with yoga to cool down

 We are grateful that soccer wasn't cancelled this week.  We played a double header last night and needless to say looked a little rusty.  But everyone had a good time, no one froze and Joshua enjoyed eating a picnic before his first game.

Joshua is growing up faster than should be allowed.  Tomorrow night we are going to the "Welcome to Kindergarten" Open House.  How is that possible!

This week while I was cooking supper he sat at the table and announced, "I am pretending to be a teenager.  I am 19.  I think that means I am in college."  He told us about how, "Me and my friend John are the only people in our class that do our work.  Everyone else just talks and plays.  But John and me are good college students and do our work."  He explained that he and John are roommates and that they met while in high school in Florida.  Joshua identified the fictional classmates that cheated off other student's papers and showed us how he shielded his work from the wandering eyes.  While telling this story he very intently worked on his "college student work" which may or may not have involved coloring in a sports related coloring book.  "This is my class book.  It is a sports class"  he announced.

Watch out kindergarten, the Boy Wonder is ready...if only he would apply his imagined focus and diligence to real life. :)