Petting Zoo and Pumpkin Patch...All kinds of Fall Fun

Since Grandma and Grandpa were here visiting for Noah's birthday weekend we decided to take advantage of the nice fall weather and head up to a local pumpkin patch called "Tanglewood Farms". I thought it was mostly going to be a pumpkin patch with a hayride, a few farm animals, etc but it turns out I was confusing it with a different pumpkin patch I had been to (there are so many up here!). It was actually primarily a small animal petting zoo with a few pumpkins....oh well. Noah actually enjoyed it more this way. Unfortunately Grandma-"I love children not animals"-Fitzgerald wasn't too thrilled with her close brush with the cattle but she survived and was a very good sport. "The things you do for your grandchildren" she said on more than one occasion. Sorry Mom! The family farm was great for kids and they gave you food to feed the animals. They had goats of all sizes including miniature goats as well as full size goats, sheep, chickens, ponies, horses, calfs, pigs, llamas, huge rabbits, and I think I even saw a donkey. Oh and of course they had a few farm cats--Noah's favorite for sure. I'm so glad we paid $9 each to take him to a place so he could spend the majority of the time screaming "KITTY!!" and petting the cats...something he could do anywhere. Oh well. I think he had fun anyway and wasn't afraid of any of the animals, even when they were invading his personal space trying to get to the food in his hand. I on the other hand, jumped about 2 feet in the air when I felt the large, cold tongue of a pig licking my bare toes which were hanging out of my sandals. All in all it was a fun day and we got some great pictures which always makes me happy!


I can totally see why a 2-year-old would end up in Jail...



This must be a minimum security institution with good food and cable TV because he sure does look happy.



I'm pretty impressed with myself for getting the sheep to pose like that

Noah turns 2

Saturday (October 11th) was Noah's 2nd birthday! We can hardly believe 2 years have gone by since that day we brought our little 6 pound, helpless peanut home from the hospital. We opted not to have a huge birthday party for him...we weren't sure we were up to twenty 2-year-olds invading our house! So we had a small (mostly family and a couple very close friends) come over for a family dinner and some Elmo birthday cake! Noah actually did better than we thought with opening the presents. Grandma and "Papa" Fitzgerald (a.k.a. "the man who hung the moon" in Noah's eyes) came up from FL for his big day. Aunt Shelly and cousin Samantha got to be here and Aunt Amy & Uncle Eric came over with cousins Christian, Cameron and Lauren who are now 9 months old and both crawling! It was a fun day! The Elmo birthday cake turned out great (not that I can take any credit for it!) As cute as the cake was, however, I will try to never get a birthday cake with solid red icing ever again! I have to admit parts of our house still look like a crime scene...





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The Birthday Boy! We were surprised he actually wanted to wear the party hat!



And our big boy even blew out his candle...



Sharing some red icing with Daddy



Posing for a picture on his new climbing toy



Can you tell he's on a sugar high from the cake? I thought so...



Cousins Cameron, Christian and Lauren



The kids enjoyed playing all over Noah's birthday present



Noah's "Aunt Amy" with cousins Cameron and Lauren

First Haircut

Well, here we are one week shy of Noah's 2nd birthday and we FINALLY decided Noah had enough hair to officially get his first haircut!!! What a momentous milestone, huh! It's funny how things change when you have kids. A few years ago a "big deal" on a Saturday for me would mean a spur of the moment road trip to a SEC football game, some tailgating, partying, etc. Now, a "big deal" Saturday for us is taking Noah to a kid's themed hair salon and waiting in line for 30 minutes watching all of the other 1 year olds scream at the trauma they are going through only so we can do the same thing to our precious child! Actually, the experience went WAY better than we ever expected. Noah doesn't exactly cooperate with things being "done" to him (just ask his doctor, any nurse at any of the various children's ERs we've had to unfortunately visit with him or any local photographer for that matter). He was such a champ and "kim" his "barber" did an amazing job. They really know what they are doing with kids there! There are special chairs, toys everywhere, prizes, TVs at every station, all kinds of distracting devices and it is quite the event. I think they even do birthday parties there! Noah didn't cry once--not even when he saw the little boy next to him sobbing and sobbing. And Kim didn't even make any comments about our "homemade" attempts at hair trimming we had tried at home (hey, the economy is bad...trying to save some money). All in all, the $17.95 we paid for a perfect haircut, smiles on the pictures, a "first haircut certificate", his red "nuggets" of hair they saved for us and NO TEARS was well worth it. I'm just glad he had a positive first experience so I don't have to DREAD every haircut with him...like I dread every MD appointment and portrait session.

The weather up here is so gorgeous this weekend so after his haircut we walked over to "Johnny Rocket's" for a fun lunch complete with jukebox music and a dancing wait staff. Noah actually refused to sit in a high chair and sat in a booster seat at the booth with us, ate almost an entire kid's meal and insisted on having his "grown up" drink instead of a sippy cup. It's like he went from baby to little boy right before our eyes today. I just can't believe in a few short days we will officially stop counting his age in months and start saying "we have a 2 year old!" My, how time flies!



Doesn't he look thrilled?






I love how he is sitting with his legs crossed



"Hey now, don't make fun of my mohawk! Talk to the hand!"



Doesn't he look handsome? NO smiles....but at least no tears!

Take time to stop and smell the roses

With everything going on in the world lately and with the financial disaster facing our country, I find myself letting my brain be consumed with so many things. I am obsessed with the election and worried about who will be running our country; I am consumed with this financial crisis and how the horrible state of the stock market may impact my family; I’m consumed with my house being on the market and worried no one will ever buy it due to the horrible state of the housing market; I listen to the news and become disheartened at the state of our world instead of thanking God for allowing me to have such a blessed life; I spend way too much time dreading the terrible 2’s that are invading our household at the moment and not enough time being impressed and grateful for the amazing little things Noah does every single day; I am consumed with guilt for never getting around to reading the 37 parenting books sitting on my bookshelves when I ought to be only focused on reading the “one” book that matters and answers everything. All of these things have been going through my mind this week when I got an email from a friend which included a passage from her daily homily that she receives each day by email. I thought it really hit home so I wanted to post it. Unfortunately I can’t give credit to the author because I do not know who wrote it.


Don’t Forget How to See Them

Dn 7:9-10,13-14 / Jn 1:47-51

Every day we are surrounded by miracles, but we rarely notice any of them--because they are always there and we grow accustomed to them. We domesticate God’s wonders and take them as part of the ordinary furniture of our lives, and that means discounting their value by almost 100 percent.

Think of the new parents who stand in wonder over the crib of their new infant, marvelling at those tiny fingers and toes, the eyes that are barely open yet, and the cry that is so loud for such a little body. “It’s a miracle,” they say, and they’re right. But before long, living every day with the miracle becomes ordinary, the wonder fades, and the focus shifts to “pick up your socks, take out the trash, and do your homework.”

It’s the way our minds work, and in one sense it’s probably a blessing because otherwise we’d be exhausted and overwhelmed all the time at the incredible goings-on all around us. But it is a pity, because so many of our lonely feelings and our wondering if God is close to us could be eased if we retained the gift of seeing what is right under our eyes.

We can regain and reinvigorate that gift of sight, if we take the time to look at the simple things of our daily experience more closely and with a more attentive spirit.

God is visible right here to those who have the eyes to see. Take the time, and experience the joy of seeing him — every day.