Gimme S'more

Couldn't resist documenting Noah's very first s'more!

A couple of weekends ago, we invited our sweet friends, Jason and Stephanie Evans and their son, Parker, over to cookout.  After dinner we broke in the old firepit and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.

What could be better than gooey chocolate and marshmallow with your best bud?

I think they were a hit!

Sweet Berry Farm!

My parents came in the weekend of May 4 so my mom could have her hips checked again by a surgeon here in Cedar Park.  And now she is getting ready to have both hips replaced in two separate surgeries this summer!  I am so excited that she will have the chance to live life again!

But besides that, we had some fun over the long weekend too!  

Noah got to wear his new superhero cape that Mimi made him.  Oh, excuse me.  It's Super Noah. 

And we made our way out west through a bit of winding hill country to Marble Falls, home of the delicious Sweet Berry Farm.

Pickin' lessons.

Mommy & Daddy pickin'.

Papa's helper

He actually did a pretty good job of selecting appropriately ripe berries, however their descent into the berry crate was usually less than gentle.  Which just means that Noah's bruised berries had to be eaten right away, of course.

Pickin onions and new potatoes for Mimi.  I seriously love picking stuff out of a garden.  Could do it all day long.

He got to pet the goats.

And ride the tractor "train."

I mean, the caboose!

Helping Mimi bag all those berries!

Mmmm...have to sample a few for quality control purposes.

We came back with two whole crates full, so some were eaten and a lot were frozen!  While there, we all enjoyed homemade strawberry ice cream, and I had strawberry lemonade, and Noah had a homemade strawberry popsicle!  Not to mention the Storm's Burgers....

Here's to one sweet weekend!

All the Changes That 3 Can Bring

Noah began speech therapy through an ECI agency shortly after turning 2.  He has made such progress over the past year with his wonderful speech therapist, Ms. Nikki, who visited us weekly.  Upon turning 3, ECI no longer provides these services and we opted to receive services through our local school district.  Noah was evaluated and placed into a preschool program specifically for children with speech issues that meets for 2 hours every morning.  He even gets to ride a special school bus, which he loves.  However, the bus does come rather early, so you'll see some sleepy eyes in the photos from his first day.  We are blessed to live in a great school district and they have an awesome early childhood education program that provides quite an array of services.

Here he is on April 15, as Mommy & Daddy took him to his first day of school.

The following week, Noah started riding the bus!  He was a little nervous at first, as was Mommy, but he is always excited about it.

Never thought I'd have this experience so early in Noah's life!  It was hard watching that tiny little face ride away waving at me from a big yellow bus...but it also gives me a nice three-and-a-half hour stretch in the mornings to get things done!  Many more changes to come in this year of 3!

The Big Day

 On Tuesday, April 10th, Daddy took the day off work and we had a big birthday of fun together.  First, we took the MetroRail from the Lakeline station and headed into downtown Austin.  The transportation was probably the most thrilling part of the day for Noah, truth be told.  :)  He still will randomly say that he wants to "ride Gordon and go to the museum."  (For those of you not up on all things Thomas the Train, Gordon is the express engine who transports people around the island of Sodor.  We told Noah that we were riding a train like Gordon, so now, the Metrorail trains are Gordon.)

Ready to go!

Passed this on our way to the museum and couldn't resist.

Fun at the Austin Children's Museum!  Noah got a family membership from Mamaw, Papaw, and Aunt Mandi for his birthday.

Birthday lunch at Carlos Santana's restaurant, just down the street from the ACM.   A lot of skulls in the decor for a third birthday lunch, but the food was good. :)

Headed home.

I will call the next series of photographs, "Monkey See, Monkey Do."

After naptime, we went out for birthday ice cream and a little duck feeding

N

Happy Birthday to our big 3-year-old!  You had a great day.  We love you so much!