The Noah and Tommy Show

****Before I begin this post, I would like to ask everyone to please keep my cousin Kristen in your prayers today and all week. Today [Tues. 4/15/08], Kristen will be induced for labor. She is 19 weeks pregnant. Her baby has very serious complications and will not survive. Click on her blog link on the sidebar (Kristen 'n Justin) to read her story. Please lift Kristen up in your prayers. This is an extremely difficult time for her and our family.****




Tommy - 10.5 months
Noah - 15 months

These two guys hammed it up together the entire weekend! It was a great time! Good friends, gourmet food, Rockport downtown eating/shopping, hikes (and a few wrong turns), and of course lots of laughter and catching up. We each took turns in preparing a meal for the group - there was definitely some talent in the kitchen! Ken and Mer's fish entree should be a featured dish somewhere - it was so good, Connor and I tried to recreate it the first night we returned home (no comment)!

We miss everyone already. This is such a wonderful group of friends - I learn so much from everyone. Amy and I are in the same life chapter, so hearing how she does life - The Big Balance - her daily strategies for chaos-management, friend-outlets, and social skills with a ten-month-old definitely taught me a few things. She and Joe are so happy, and Tommy is so darn cute (as you see in the videos)! Mer just got her Board Certification as a Behavioral Analyst. She is one smart mama (figuratively, not literally - just yet) - and is an extremely kind-hearted and genuine person. She works with developmentally-challenged kids around Noah's age and up, so just hearing her daily obstacles and stories was a strong reminder of how very much we have to be thankful for.

Here are a few special moments from our trip:

1 - Family pic in downtown Rockport.

2 - Daddy and Noah barefoot on the patio - note the cord we are dragging (still The Thing)

3 - Babies figuring out how to stuff an etch-a-sketch pen (another one of Noah's faves) into a box opening. Great part about this photo - notice the adult konked out for a nap in the background (yeah Brent) - grown-ups took better naps than kids this trip - is there a point in life when this 'reversal' happens?

4 &5 - Babies boarding a Corona box together (note the etch-a-sketch pen, still in hand)...and babies in box together...a Corona box together...that about sums it up!

6 - Tommy's smile. :):)