Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a happy and safe New Year! Hoping 2012 is a wonderful year for you and your family. We end 2011 feeling very blessed and look forward to growing from 3 Thorpes to 4 Thorpes in 2012. Here are a few of the special moments from our busy and fun-filled Christmas!

Less Stressing More Treasuring

If I am completely honest, and I will be, the Christmas season can be STRESSFUL! I'm not a shopper and don't like malls. Decorating is not one of my gifts. I tend to procrastinate. I am a pleaser and being in five places at one time in an effort to make everyone happy is well...impossible. Add in that we are about 4.5 weeks away from baby number two just sixteen shorts months after baby number one and I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed this holiday season. Before I get too consumed with my anxiousness and throw myself one big pity party, I think it might be more appropriate to sit down and reflect on how incredibly BLESSED we are! Reflect on how our blessings began with the ingloriously glorious birth of our Savior. Joseph and pregnant Mary traveled about 80 miles on a DONKEY from Nazareth to Bethlehem. With no room available for them, Mary then gives birth to Jesus in a probably very smelly manger. Somehow, Mary still found a way to "treasure up all of these things and ponder them in her heart". Makes me realize that although this season can be stressful I have much to be thankful for and should be stressing less and treasuring more. And with that, here are the things I am treasuring in my heart this Christmas Season:

An incredible marriage to an incredible man who is always finding new and creative ways to love me and serve me. He cooks, he cleans, he rubs my feet. Ben has truly been the calm to my storm this holiday season. Yesterday he was at home with Noah all day and still found time to bake cookies (OVER 300 of them) for everyone on our list and make gifts for Noah's teachers (a craft project that I started--barely--and he finished). Did I mention he's also an incredible father?

Precious moments spent as a family of three. Noah is such a fun and funny little boy and we are treasuring these last few weeks with him as our only child before the chaos of a newborn ensues. Moments like tonight when all three of us were giggling uncontrollably as we watched Noah try to slurp up long strands of spaghetti. Moments like this weekend when we took a family outing to the Varsity and all of our attention was on him as he happily gulped down a Frosted Orange.

Even more stockings are hung by the chimney with care. Our family is growing and we can not wait to meet Isaac. We feel so blessed that we have been entrusted with two little boys.

Noah's sweet face when he saw our Christmas tree light up for the first time and how he has asked/signed for "more" when he walks up to it after we get home in the evenings.

The unexpected and the incredibly generous. We have been surrounded by both this holiday season. Our Church raised more than $2 Million to help communities in need locally and around the world in just a few weeks. Our sweet Small Group knowing that I was feeling anxious and overwhelmed came over and decorated our house for Christmas when we weren't home. Today I was brought to tears when our family received an incredibly generous package in the mail with a note that read, "Because your family is loved. Merry Christmas, Santa".

Time spent with family. Our first official family Christmas gathering was this past weekend. Noah got to spend time with his two cousins Bella and Abi. It was so much fun to watch the three of them play together and act silly. It's not often that they all three are in the same place at the same time. With one gathering down and several more to go, we are grateful to be surrounded by the ones we love.

And last but not least, I'm treasuring these last few weeks of pregnancy. I have felt amazing the entire time. Knowing that this will most likely be the last time I'm pregnant, I am treasuring every little movement and kick (even the ones where it feels like little Isaac is trying to claw his way out of me). I am treasuring all of the Oreos that I have suddenly felt entitled to eating. And I am definitely treasuring the probability that I will not be riding a donkey to a manger but will instead be driven by my husband in a car to a nearby hospital where I will give birth to little Isaac without the sounds or smells of any type of cattle.

Merry Christmas to all. May your holiday season be filled with little treasures!

Pucker Up!

"Noah keeps kissing Ellie. She is liking it. She is kissing him back," was the first text we received from Noah's teacher this week. "They are into each other today. Constantly sitting on each other", was the second text. My response, "WHAT?!? He's in big trouble". Ben's response, "No, no, no, that needs to stop, I'm on my way!" For one, he's only 14 months old and it's way too early for those shananigans AND we NEVER get hugs or kisses. Noah is an incredibly sweet child however he is definitely not cuddly or affectionate. He's not really into being held (and hasn't been since he was about 4 months old), he doesn't want to be rocked to sleep and instead dives for his bed, he doesn't like to be soothed or cuddled when he's hurt or frustrated and he definitely does not give kisses--to humans. He loves animals and will kiss and cuddle on all the neighborhood dogs and all of his stuffed animals. Just the other day he was walking up and down our street and would stop, bend over and kiss the ground. I immediately asked for a kiss hoping to take advantage of what could have just been a kissing kind of mood. NOPE. I got the typical hand in my face followed by the head turn and pierced lips. BUT there must have been something magical to Ellie's kisses b/c this weekend we got our first lips puckered, Noah initiated smooches. Granted I'm 8 months pregnant but I may have gotten a little emotional. He also gave kisses to his Nona, his Nanny, his new friend Hannah, and his cousin Bella. That's a whole lot of kissin' for one weekend but we are loving those sweet little puckered up lips. Thank you little Ellie for showing Noah how it's done.

We are definitely looking forward to more sweet kisses from this guy

We Can't Believe our Ears

It's been a good week, but nothing incredibly exciting to share. While I don't have much to say about our week, our little one is saying A LOT these days. Ben and I decided that it would be fun to take the time and write down all the words Noah is saying. A little list to come back to when we take a trip down memory lane.

Up. Wow. Guitar (sounds like gar). Mama. Dada. Thank you (sounds like tank you). Please (lots of spit flying w/ this one). Hello. Yes. All Gone. Circle. Go go. Spoon. Balloon (sounds like ba-ewn). Tree. Cheese (lots of spit here too). Cookie. Fork (or gork). Fish (a whole lot of spit). Star. Socks. Shoe. Yellow. Purple. Bye bye. Love you (buv you). Three. Down. Eye (usually as he's poking yours out). Wall. Hot. Grandma (gam-ma). Nona. Pooh (as in Winnie). Car. Night night. Again. More. Trash. Jack (boy in his class). Yuck (accompanied by food coming back out of his mouth). School (he loves that place). Elmo. Banana (sounds like nana). Ball (his first word). Apple (or bapple). Bottle. Bath. Duck. Uh-oh. Crash (as he rams his truck into other objects). Rock, rock. Cheerio (ear-e-o).

We can't imagine what he will be saying in just a few months/years. So we decided to try to imagine what he will look like instead.

A Beautiful Mind

Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.

~Pablo Picasso

While a little dose of Hand-Foot-And-Mouth disease kept us from the turkey, stuffing, and visiting with most of our family this Thanksgiving, we were thankful to have some extra time at home with our little monkey. It was in those turkey-less moments that we got to see Noah's imagination come to life. We had seen glimpses of this before--he often walks around the house talking on his imaginary phone. He holds his little bitty hand or any other object he can find up to his ear and says, "Hello.......(pause)......yes". But over the past several days we watched the phone conversations get longer and more animated. We were amazed when what remained of his nutri-grain bar snack became a car that he started driving around on his high-chair tray as he made fire truck noises (he thinks all 4-wheeled objects sound like fire trucks). By the end of the weekend, his Little People Construction set had taken on a couple of different identities. It consists of a bulldozer, a few ramps, a wrecking ball, and this rock/mountain formation that has a handle and becomes a carrying case for all the parts and pieces. The rock/mountain formation first became his school bag. He'd put it on his arm and start waving and saying "bye-bye" and walk to the front door saying, "school, school, school". When he grew tired of his unimaginative parents not allowing him to walk out the door and go to school, the mountain formation became a rocking horse. He'd attempt to sit on it like a horse (which was hysterical b/c it's way too small to sit on and led to a few hilarious wipeouts), hold on to the handle and start rocking and saying "rock, rock, rock". We would trade turkey and stuffing for these moments any day. We are so thankful that God specifically picked us to be the parents of this little boy and is allowing us the joy of watching as his beautiful little mind runs wild with creativity. It is our hope and prayer that Noah's imagination will remain uninhibited and that he will grow into an adult that is unafraid to have great faith and dream big!

To Faux Hawk or not to Faux Hawk

Last Sunday was a big day for our little bit. He turned 14 months old and got his first haircut. 14 months wasn't the magic number rather mom and dad finally agreed that it was time. Surprisingly, mom was ready long before dad but dad got on board once it started shaping into a baby mullet. So, how did it go? Noah did great! We were a little nervous b/c he's not too keen about the hair dryer and we knew those would be present. He's been known to hit the ground and assume the duck-and-cover position when one is turned on. We wouldn't say that he loved getting his hair cut but there were no tears and he stayed mostly still. He was still enough to avoid any tragic mishaps with the scissors. It helped that the sweet lady cutting his hair was incredibly patient and didn't mind running in circles around him.

Here are some pics of Noah's first haircut. And yep, we even have the certificate to prove that it happened. Not being a very nostalgic person it cracks me up to think that this might secretly be why I chose this particular haircut place over some of the others. Our little one has the power to make me foolishly sentimental.

Now the question (bordering debate) in our house is, To Faux Hawk or Not to Faux Hawk? Mom likes the Faux Hawk and Dad's not too crazy about it. He thinks it's a bit too trendy and thinks it's silly to put product in a 14 month-old's hair. While I agree that part does feel a bit silly, it really is so stinkin' cute. So we ask you, to faux hawk or not to faux hawk?

Less for More--Immeasurably More

As Thanksgiving fast approaches and we reflect on the things for which we are thankful, at the top of our list is that we are blessed to attend a church that we love. Each week we walk away encouraged and challenged to be more, give more, serve more, do more. Most recently we have been challenged to give more and to become more generous. This is our heart's desire. We want to be able to help our neighbors fix their car if it's broken and they don't have the money to fix it. We want to fill shoe box after shoe box after shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. We want to support not just one but several children through World Vision. We want to feed a local family who is hungry--for a YEAR! We want to teach our two boys to have a heart for others and a compassion to help those in need. We want to live the rest of our lives Giving, Saving, and then Spending. But right now, we can't. Yes we are doing what we can (most of the time) and yes, we have learned a lot and are getting closer (I encourage you to check out Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover). We have paid off our cars, we have paid off and given up credit cards, but standing in the way of our generosity makeover is our student loan debt and we DESPISE IT! So we are doing what was once unthinkable to us...something we pretty much said we would never do. We are selling our property in North Carolina and our little mountain shack. It's going on the market next week. If you know us, you know we love this place. We are a family that loves the outdoors and this is our little escape. We could go on and on about why this is going to be hard and why we are sad. But, we learned something at church on Sunday. We learned that while we will be walking away with less, God can turn our less into immeasurably more. (Eph. 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us). We can't wait to share this journey with you and we look forward to telling you all about the More that God is doing with our Less.

We will definitely miss this view.

Our little shack.

Noah's going to miss it too!

A Halloween to Remember

While this was not Noah's first Halloween, it will always be the first one we remember. Last year Noah was about 6 weeks old and I'm pretty positive we were still figuring out how to change a diaper in less than 10 minutes (while I'm sure getting either peed on or projectile pooped on). Ben had just lost his job and I was still very much a train wreck. Hormones + sleep deprivation = ONE HOT MESS! I just looked back through old pictures to make sure there wasn't a costume that I forgot about...Nope! This picture taken a few days before Halloween was our best effort.

This year Halloween turned out to be much more FUN and memorable. Noah, at 13 months, really had no clue what was going on which made it hard for me to get motivated and figure out a costume. As of Sunday afternoon all we had was a plain yellow cape. Bed time came and Ben and I got to work determined to create a cute costume without spending a dime. And overnight, this:

Turned into this:

We had a blast taking our little Super Hero trick-or-treating. Super Noah went house-to-house rescuing every pumpkin top he could get his hands on. But perhaps our most proud moment was when he displayed his Super Manners and said, "thank you" unprompted after receiving candy at the first house we visited.

Rapping Rivals--Wish We Could Be There

Last week we were fortunate to have a babysitter (thank you, Nona) and go on a date to see my little brother Zach's high school football game. For those of you following Gwinnett County sports, you know that this game of Brookwood vs Parkview was epic. Epic to the point that I'm surprised it didn't send me into premature labor...Seriously! Four lead changes and four touchdowns in the last TWO minutes finally resulted in a Brookwood win. So, as you can imagine, we are totally bummed we will miss this week's game (it's another BIG ONE)! But with no babysitter and a little boy with an early bedtime who thinks football stadiums are a giant buffet we will be watching this one from home on TV. We learned about the buffet thing a couple of months ago when we went to watch Zach at the GA Dome. Noah took Golden Corral's "Help yourself to happiness" motto to heart and was feasting--and I do mean feasting--on everyone in Atlanta's leftover cokes, popcorn, nachos, etc. that were right at his level on the stadium floor. I did what I could, but thank goodness I'm not a germ-a-phobe. Excited about tonight's Brookwood vs Grayson game and to honor his Uncle Z, Noah decided to wear his new favorite shirt. Zach, we want you to know we are proud of you and are cheering you on tonight! And now to borrow some words from the Brookwood rap video going viral--Grayson our little rapper leaves you with this: "... I count sheep in my sleep so I ain’t scared of no ram."