Badgers

Life 'round here

2012-02-12T16:39:00.004-07:00

This post is mostly for myself so I can remember what antics my handsome son was up to at this time of his life. But feel free to read it and enjoy. I think he's pretty awesome.

Our *little* spiritual giant:
Will say the prayer for food, often reminding me that we need to pray whenever we sit down to eat a meal or snack together.
When he sees my Book of Mormon, he picks it up and brings it to me and asks to "hear it." (Hopefully we can train him to be a doer of the word, and not a hearer only...haha).
He loves going to church and has gotten a lot better at sitting through Sacrament Meeting.
He loves certain church songs and will request them often, such as "I Love to See the Temple" and "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man."
And lots more little things that make me happy. He is often my reminder of God's love and closeness to His children.

Random Funniness and Habits:
He LOVES Wonder Pets, which is a pretty cute little show so I don't mind indulging him once in a while. He actually prefers it to his Cars movies right now, so that's awesome bc the episodes are only 20 minutes.
Jumping is his joy. We let him pull the cushions off the couch and jump on them. He did it for a full hour the other night!
He is obsessed with going to the book store and library. He will play with the toys and things for a little while, but really he just wants me to read to him and will bring me book after book to read to him. We sometimes end up staying at the book store for a good 2 hours!
Pictures below: He loves to do whatever Mommy or Daddy is doing. He was blowing his hair the other day while I got ready, and tried really hard to persuade me to paint his toe nails after he saw me do mine (he thinks it's SO funny that my toes are pink). He likes Daddy to do his hair, loves helping Daddy take out the garbage, and "playing" video games with Daddy.

Well, I could go on and on about how much fun this little guy is and how much joy he brings to our lives, but he wants to watch the "I Am A Child of God" Mormon Message now :)

If you give a 2-yr-old a camera...

2012-01-31T14:30:00.002-07:00

You might not get it back without a full-on frenzy of tears and kicking. But the pictures you end up with can be worth the battle :) There were LOTS more, but I didn't want to overdo it. Enjoy!

Travels

2012-01-22T20:11:00.006-07:00

We had a great visit to Utah for the holidays. We got to have time with lotsa Badgers! We also got to see a few of my family, too--a big shout out to my parents for lending their "cool car" and "grumpa's truck" so we could get around in style. Noah was in heaven and still talks about the truck.

Noah had a blast at this jump place with his Nelson cousins (and Daddy--Mommy sat this one out with some excuse about being really pregnant).

We got to see some old friends

Bethanie modeled this white elephant gift before she swapped it back over to Eric at the fun Christmas Eve party we went to with some of the Badger's family friends who live in Utah now.

Noah got to see his Great-Grandpa Lemon.

Watching Cars. Or Cars 2. He got addicted and we had to cut him off when we got home, haha.

Goofy brother. You're lucky to get a normal pic of this guy!

Lunch with Washburns.

Noah lookin handsome at his Aunt Rosalia's wedding reception.

Couldn't resist this photo op--Noah with the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Fun with Grandma Washburn. He's super excited for her to come visit when his baby sister is born!

Riding a TRAIN! Noah was so excited and wanted to go ride the train every day after this.

We stayed with a Badger family friend in Lehi. She has a grandson around Noah's age, so he got to play with him a couple times.

Lunch when Rosalia went through the temple.

Signed, sealed and delivered! The happy couple.

December in Louisiana

2011-12-13T15:41:00.003-07:00

Watching the Children's Museum train exhibit. I am pretty sure he stood there watching it for about 10 minutes!

Who knew I'd be at the park in the middle of December? We've had a great week of weather and we've soaked it all in.

We went to Acadian Village here in Lafayette to see the lights. Eric got free tickets through work. We love free, and the lights were beautiful! Noah loved it.

Best shot we could get--Noah wasn't quite sure what he thought of this situation...

Testing out the effects on my new phone's camera. Noah was playing with the acorns :)

As crafty as I get.

2011-12-12T20:35:00.001-07:00

And Eric did most of it.

We're parents of a two year old

2011-12-09T16:29:00.003-07:00

Noah turned two last Sunday! He's our big boy and is growing up in so many ways. He had his two-year appointment with the doctor on Wednesday, he's in the 25th percentile for weight, but he's off the charts for height--big surprise! He's talking a ton and still loves everything plane, train and automobile. He still loves to go go go, could spend hours reading, and loves to color and craft.

On the big day. Say cheese!

The big bag o' presents and our birthday strawberry shortcake. Noah ate a couple bites of the cake, but all he really wanted was the strawberries--now that's my boy!

Just Noah being cute!

Random pic, but here's our Christmas tree :)

Last but not least, our little man watching a movie and eating steamed cauliflower like it's popcorn. Love it.

Ok, so I lied. This is last. A tummy shot finally, I've been a slacker. 26 weeks!

Who could resist this?

2011-11-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

Not me, that's for sure!

Badgerette

2011-11-08T21:05:00.002-07:00

Baby #2...is a girl.

I'm thankful for a husband who will come rescue me when I lock myself out.

The news here is not so great, and that lead anchor's bangs drive me crazy.

I definitely look pregnant.

We need to fold laundry if we expect to find our bed.

I need a maid.

My husband is a tank. He ran 22 miles this weekend and didn't even injure himself.

Pregnancy makes me itchy.

I'm not so interesting. I should go to bed.

Because

2011-10-16T20:36:00.003-06:00

This blog needed some attention. And Noah's the bomb. Here are a couple pictures of our growing boy in all his handsome glory ;)

I think we were driving out to DeRidder to visit in this one. He sure knows how to cheese it up.

This is at our favorite bakery. It's just down the street from our apartment, so we can walk there, and they only serve vegan, sugar free and gluten free desserts, so I don't feel bad letting Noah chow down a couple times a week on one of their yummy cookies :)

Cat's out of the bag

2011-09-21T22:04:00.002-06:00

So people at church have started to ask questions about my burgeoning belly, so to clarify, I am in fact expecting a baby. I have NOT decided to spend my days feasting on fast food and decadent desserts. In fact, this baby seems to want me to be healthy, because for the most part those types of things have sounded gross lately. I'm ok with that. I'm about 15 weeks along and the "guess date" is March 11.

Eric wants me to add that he has not gained any baby weight.

The end.

Alaska!

2011-09-12T13:38:00.001-06:00

Noah and I had an adventure on Alaska's "Emerald Isle" visiting my sister Katy and her family. We went to beaches, hiked, picked salmon berries, saw bears, sea lions, orcas and fish, and just had a lot of fun all around. Here's a handful of the many many pictures we have.

Growing up

2011-07-23T20:24:00.002-06:00

This time Eric and I grew up (although Noah is shooting up like a weed). We bought our first car! We like it. Noah likes it, too. It has lots more buttons to push than the Malibu did.

When upon life's billows...

2011-07-16T16:34:00.002-06:00

Noah and I had an adventure of sorts yesterday...I got lost trying to drive without the guidance of the GPS and I was turning onto a road so I could turn into a parking lot and turn around, and a woman was turning and apparently didn't see me, I guess, because she didn't slow down at all and smashed right into the driver's side of our car.

But I'm counting my blessings, because neither of us were injured. I was not found at fault in the accident. We were planning on getting a new car within the next year, so this just expedites our search. And did I mention my little handsome man was such a trooper through it all and exclaimed in delight about the fire truck, police cars and ambulance that came and played with his toys while Eric and waited for the police officer to finish filing the report.

Handsome

2011-07-08T18:06:00.004-06:00

Life in Lafayette

2011-06-16T19:47:00.004-06:00

Pretty much we spend our days trying to figure out things to do that also include water or air conditioning. Here are some pics!

What happens when Dad takes the little man on a walk--Noah had a great time splashing in the fountain at our apartment complex.

Wet!

Learning the finer points of squirting people with the hose.

At Barnes and Noble for story time. We go every Monday. He usually lasts through most of it, but we always have the train table as a fall-back!

We go to the mall once in a while. I actually put money in this ride for him (first time he's actually ridden in one). He didn't care; it was all the same to him. He just likes pretending to be a big person and drive!

The Children's Museum is our lifeline. Noah and I go at least three times a week (we got a membership). He loves it and I love the air conditioning.

Once in a while we chill at home, but Noah loves to "go." Every morning, once he's had breakfast, he comes up to me and signs "more" and says "go?" He's not much of a homebody.

The library is right across the street from our complex. It is also air conditioned :) Noah loves to "read" the books to me and run around the children's section creating general havoc.

Noah works hard, cell phone in hand while typing away. Poor kid needs a vacation.

Noah loves stickers. Sometimes when he's not interested in anything else I'll pull some out and it keeps him occupied for at least 20 minutes (an eternity in Noah time).

Noah LOVES spending time with Dad in the morning and has major meltdowns when Eric leaves for work. I guess it's good that he's not just attached to me?

Wearing Dad's shirt :)

Welcome to Louisiana

2011-06-02T11:44:00.001-06:00

It's 99 degrees today, 45 percent humidity. That means it feels like 110 degrees. Nice.

Memorial Day in DeRidder

2011-05-30T20:14:00.003-06:00

We had a fun time with Mark, Tracy and their kids in D-Town today. Thanks for the good food and company!

These kiddos actually played pretty well together most of the day. They were both done sharing by the end of our visit, though! :)

Noah and Ella especially enjoyed gettin their groove on when we were playing on the Kinect.

Photo dump

2011-05-26T12:05:00.008-06:00

I haven't posted pics of our adorable child in a while, so some of these are pretty old. Bear with me. Also, I forgot that blogger puts them backward, so they're in the wrong chronological order...I'm feeling lazy.

Noah loves wearing my heels, and on Sunday he also found some pearls to complete the outfit.

Eating at our new (borrowed) table. Thanks, Mark and Tracy!

Watching Food Network with Jana and Anthony when they came down to visit us before we left. I just thought it was cute how intent they all were.

Heels again...wedges this time. He has varied tastes.

Just being cute.

Dancing fountain in Virginia

Noah's first Easter egg hunt. He knew right away that the good part was eating the candy in the eggs.

With his Easter basket on Easter morning (I just used the eggs from the hunt to put in here--saved me from having to buy candy!).

Hopefully we'll have pics of the place to post soon; it's just still kind of a disaster and I would like to wait until we have no more boxes in the living room...we'll see how that goes ;)

Happy

2011-05-13T17:15:00.001-06:00

Next week is my birthday. I'm giving myself a new apartment in a new state. Isn't that sweet?

Noah and I are excited to see Grandma and Grandpa Badger and play with cousins while Eric drives our stuff halfway across the country.

Can I bring all my friends with me? I'm going to miss them. Anyone want to move to Lafayette?

Just a few musings. I'm sitting on the floor of our nearly empty apartment pondering the meaning of life, or at least pondering how to care for my soul. I'm not sure who I'll be friends with, what our apartment will be like, how I'll settle into our new home, but I do know that I have the constancy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to anchor me. I have a caring, handsome husband who loves me. I have a son whose face lights up when he sees me, who gives the sweetest cuddles and kisses.

Life is good.

The New "Do"

2011-04-26T20:14:00.003-06:00

I had a hankerin' for a change with my hair, so I thought what better timing than right before I move to a new place? I will miss my hair stylist I finally found after nearly two years of trial and error searching (Christine at Ibis Salon, for anyone in Richmond who's interested). She has an amazing talent for translating my ideas into exactly the style I had in mind! Anyway, here's a pic of my new haircut! It's even sassier in person :)

Christ is Risen

2011-04-24T19:12:00.002-06:00

We believe that Christ our Lord and Redeemer lives--and as our God, leads and guides His restored gospel on the Earth today. On this Easter day, we declare our testimonies of Jesus as our Savior.

Ridiculously good looking

2011-04-17T18:58:00.000-06:00

The Man

2011-04-10T19:34:00.005-06:00

Noah's growing and learning and altogether getting too big and too smart for me to bear. Where's my baby boy? He's a delight, though, and keeps us laughing. Here are some pictures from the past month or so.

Playing in the water at the Children's Museum

Getting his hands dirty--he LOVES to play in the sand, he could do it all day, I think.

He is always pursing his lips lately, it's so funny. He also gives kisses to everyone and everything, which is so adorable.

Sorry these pictures aren't really in order, too lazy to reorganize them. This is at the Children's Museum again, he's already taking after Grandpa Washburn. He loved this exhibit, and he also has an obsession with rocks.

"I want to be a missionary now, I don't want to wait until I'm grown." Noah Loves carrying around Daddy's scripture case.

Enjoying some spring weather at Maymont Park

Our pensive child

Staring down the chickens at Maymont

On our trip back from visiting my brother Alan and his family in NY for spring break. Noah fell asleep with a graham cracker in his mouth, it was so funny. He would stir occasionally and push it in further.

Petting a goat

And the winner is...

2011-04-03T18:49:00.003-06:00

Most of you may have heard, but for those who have not, Eric accepted an internship offer for a hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana! We're excited for the opportunity and for the adventure of living in Cajun country :) It also won't hurt that we'll be just two hours from a bunch of Badgers!

Best and Worst Books

2011-03-09T20:31:00.003-07:00

So Eric is studying tonight, giving me way too much free time. Instead of doing useful things with my time (read: instead of doing the huge pile of laundry festering in my bedroom), I am currently perusing goodreads. I stumbled across this and couldn't help but laugh.

Take a look. The best books ever. The worst books of all time. Notice some similarities?

I'm with camp....never-read-the-books-so-I-don't-have-to-worry-about-disliking-them-and-offending-half-my-acquaintance-by-saying-so. Because I would have to say so if I read them and disliked them. I would feel it my obligation to the literary community.

Ok, I think I'll go sort that laundry now.

Lately

2011-02-27T19:17:00.002-07:00

Noah's mad that I haven't been blogging about him.

But I don't give into tantrums. First I'll talk about me. And Eric. Getting gussied up to go to the MCV Campus Winter Ball. It was fun. This full-length shot is for my momma, the generous benefactor who bankrolled my new classy black dress.

Posing at the ball. It was at the beautiful Jefferson Hotel in Downtown Richmond. Yummy food, good company, lots of fun.

Ok, Noah, now I'll talk about you if you're a good boy. This is where we do haircuts these days. Noah needs one fairly often. His wispy blond hair grows like crazy! He does really well, though.

Did I mention that he has great dental hygiene? It must be the influence of all the dental students in our ward...

In honor of Groundhog Day

2011-02-03T21:08:00.003-07:00

I'm SO officially behind in blogging that I don't plan to try and catch you all up. Here's the current news in our family: Eric's looking for an internship, Noah's increasing in destructive power and cuteness, and I have a new job as a health coach. Let me dwell on that last point a little bit. Indulge me a little while I share this amazing story with you:

This is my mom.

Before: Last November. After: End of January.

Last fall, a friend kept updating on Facebook about her weight loss and this amazing program she was on. She lost 20 pounds in 7 weeks. I brushed it off as just another diet--after all, I didn't have any weight to lose, anyway. But this friend and I had been close at BYU, so I kept tabs on her blog and couldn't help getting more curious about this program she was talking about. I soon felt confident that it wasn't just "another diet." Then I talked to my mom, and she was telling me how discouraged she was because she really wanted to lose weight and be healthier. My friend's program popped right to mind, and I mentioned it to my mom.

Fast forward a few months, and my mom has lost pounds and inches and is feeling healthier in every way. She did it all with the help of her free health coach, and I couldn't resist the chance to become a health coach and help people find similar success in achieving optimal health. I love my job, I know I'm making a difference, and I can't wait to help more and more people find the happiness that comes from being truly healthy.

Hugs and kisses to you all. And I promise to remember that I own a camera and take more pictures of my adorable tornado.

2011-01-11T17:21:00.002-07:00

As I pray in faith, sometimes the Lord will still wait to come to me until the very moment I feel about overpowered by my situation, as Joseph Smith experienced in the Sacred Grove (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you can read about it HERE). That doesn't make the power of prayer any less real.

Family Pictures

2011-01-05T16:56:00.004-07:00

We had these photos done the day before we left for Louisiana. I've just posted a handful of the pictures here, but these were a few favorites. Thanks to our wonderful photographer, Maddy (you can see her blog HERE).

A year ago...we had a newborn baby!

2010-12-17T19:06:00.008-07:00

And now, someone had a birthday...

Are you excited?

Totally unrelated, but cute: Coloring wrapping paper for Daddy's birthday present.

Mmm, birthdays are great!

Even if Mom made whole-grain raisin muffins with fat-free cream cheese frosting...

Yay for turning one!

Noah's friends came to celebrate!

I had a couple of fun videos to post, but blogger hates me. I've tried three days in a row! Oh well. You'll just have to believe that he loved the muffin, got super excited about all his gifts, and is officially walking as of last Tuesday! He's a delight and we love having Noah as a part of our family. Life wouldn't be complete without him!

Merry Christmas, everyone. I hope you all enjoy this holiday that commemorates our Savior's condescension and sacrifice, and the joy we can have as a result of the work he came here on Earth to do. We have testimonies that Jesus is the Christ, that he was born of the Virgin Mary and is our salvation as we turn to him in humility and trust. We are so blessed! Love you all.

11 months, anyone?

2010-11-06T17:26:00.003-06:00

Hey, My name is Eric and I will be the commentator this time around.

We decided to take a break from our apartment and go to Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. I am surprised at how much I liked it. The house, grounds, and visitor center are all really well done. I highly recommend it if you are in the Charlottesville, VA area. Also included in this post are some fun pictures of Noah at 11 months. Enjoy!

I'm not usually this happy, but I am standing in an amazing garden and down the hill is the orchard and vineyard. I have to say that Thomas Jefferson had good taste. I wouldn't mind putting up a house on the nearby hill either.

Just behind us are the Blue Ridge mountains and the University of Virginia that Thomas Jefferson founded and designed. Noah appears to have just seen something shady. He's got his "no nonsense" face on in this shot.

Two teeth on the bottom and four on top so far. I can see some others getting close, so that should be fun :)

Sorry son, I didn't know at the time that you weren't in the shot.

Cindy at Monticello. The house was really nice and interesting, but the location and the grounds really steal the show.

Cindy and Noah after church. Somehow I ended up with the best looking group in town.

He is getting really big! By the way, Cindy made that tie with an old tie of mine and some elastic. I think it turned out great.

Noah is wearing some leggings that Cindy made. Apparently Noah felt that leggings and a diaper were all he needed that day. Ah well, he seems to be happy.

Halloween leggings and a Kawasaki Ninja...an odd mix, but Noah comes the closest to making it look good that I know of.

Noah at Bethabara Park in Winston-Salem, NC. We went down this past Thursday for a 2nd interview with Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. I think it went well. We'll see if they give me an offer in a few weeks.

Well, I hope that you enjoyed it all!

Assortment

2010-10-20T06:14:00.003-06:00

I was cleaning up our camera's memory card and wanted to post these recent photos, but there's not really a theme--unless you count Noah being ridiculously adorable as a theme.

I had torn a tag off a shirt I bought him and he found it on the couch and started playing with it. I couldn't resist snapping a picture!

This past weekend we got to visit our dear friends the Garretts in Baltimore, where they're both earning masters degrees. Jana and I were roommates in college and then we had the same due date for our babies, so Noah and their daughter Zoe are just two weeks apart. They had a blast together! We had to get a tub shot so we can tease them when they're older.

While we were in Baltimore we wandered the campus at Johns Hopkins, where Anthony is in school. BEAUTIFUL! This is the sculpture garden by the art museum.

Nothing beats wandering the temple grounds and having a picnic!

Noah feasting on the Cheerios he just dumped out of his bowl. Thank goodness there was no milk ;)

It's a bear

2010-10-11T19:07:00.006-06:00

No, really, it is. Noah's best friend, that is. Our little TEN-MONTH-OLD (he's growing so fast!) loves his teddy bear so much and squeals with delight every time he sees it. He also loves his stuffed ducks and has similar reactions to them, but bear spends each night cuddled close.

Noah now pulls himself to standing every possible moment, and can turn his walking toy all on his own (no more frustrated dead-ends when he runs into the couch, wall, etc.). He'll be walking in no time, and he's very excited about it. I'm still trying to weigh being excited for my son and being sad to see his infancy fade so quickly away!

He is adventurous with food, and will try just about everything I'm eating. He's the typical child, though, and can't resist some good ol' mac & cheese, so when it went on sale last week I stocked up.

Our handsome boy!

Beach babe

2010-09-25T20:36:00.003-06:00

Last week we were lucky to have David, Jana, Breyton and Evie as guests for a day as they headed down to North Carolina to stay at a beach house with friends from their ward. We enjoyed spending some time with them and then they continued on their journey. Lucky for us, there ended up being an extra room at the beach house, so a day after they left, we headed down to join them! It was SO much fun. Many thanks to Pat and Julie for letting us join in on your beach vacation!

Evening walk on the beach.

I think Breyton saw some pelicans or something...

It's eating me!

Eric the octopus. Or squid? Can't remember.

Noah LOVED the beach this time around. He's never disliked it, but this time he was really excited the whole time. I'll post video below, but this grin tells a lot :)

He's just cute.

And so is she!

I love his little squeals of happiness. The goals for the day were to minimize sand consumption, prevent any rock or shell consumption, and have fun! I think we would all agree that it was a success.