Our Entertainment

Noah has really started turning into a showman, most recently putting on mini-concerts for us, singing his favorite songs and also acting out Sesame Street episodes with his many Sesame Street stuffed animals, especially Grover. He'll mimic what the characters are doing on TV and have his stuffed animals do the same. Since he's into "Super Grover" so much, almost everything in our house can be labeled as "Super ____", such as Super Soap, Super Crocs (shoes), Super Blankie, etc...Here is a brief snippet of him singing the "I Love You" song (from Barney) that I shot on my phone. We got a great 7 minutes worth of video from one of his recent concerts, and we'll try to post that one soon so that you can hear such classics as Rocky Top, Jesus Loves Me, and the Buzzing Bees song.

4 week check-up

Brenton had a great check-up today! Weight: 10 lbs. 6 oz. (62nd percentile -- up from 8 lbs. 13 oz. at 2 weeks). Length: 22 1/2 in. (79th percentile)

Happy one-month birthday to Brenton

Our little man is one month old today!

The boys

Noah had a great time with Eric while he was home for the first two week's after Brenton's birth. They got to spend lots of quality time together. Here are some photos of their trip to World's Fair Park for the Knoxville Children's Festival of Reading. Noah loved the storytellers and watching a superhero parade. He came home with a tattoo and superhero cape :)

Above is a picture of Brenton at just 12 days old. He's wearing a TN outfit for the first time, so we had to document it! He's such a good baby and is just as content as he can be, except for when he's hungry, tired or gassy :) Noah still loves to give him lots of kisses and hugs, but we constantly have to remind him to "be gentle" and "use your inside voice."

The other day, Noah napped on the couch. He rarely falls asleep on the couch and if he does, we'll pick him up and put him in his bed. This time, I decided to let him sleep on the couch. When he woke up, he had a look on his face like, "What just happened?" Noah's also into being a "helper" lately. Last weekend, he "helped" Eric with yard work and likes for us to tell him "Great job!"

I can't believe Brenton will be one month old tomorrow. It has certainly been a big adjustment having two boys, but it's the best life we could ever ask for. We still haven't posted Brenton's birth story and will do so tomorrow, along with his one month picture.

Comparison Pictures

See any resemblances? (same outfits/ages)....

Noah...

Brenton...



Noah on the way home from the hospital...


Brenton on the way home from the hospital...

Sunday Funday

With the hot weather this weekend, we brought out Noah's little pool for him to splash around in. After the pool fun, he came inside and went pee-pee in the potty for the first time ever! Party time!

Brenton has been an absolute joy so far...and has been a nearly perfect baby. He sleeps so well, rarely gets fussy, and is eating like a Haag. Noah adores him and can't stop giving him hugs and kisses.

Here are some pictures from the afternoon fun...

Happy Sunday! I'm 10 days old already

Brenton Russell Haag!

Praise God from who all blessings flow! Brenton was born on May 13th at 6:13 p.m., weighing in at 8 lbs, 4oz and 21 1/2 inches long. He and Tyra are doing great, and we are overjoyed with having a new son. He looks like Noah we think. Noah and Brenton met each other for the fitst time this morning, and Noah gave him lots of hugs, kisses, and love...along with leaving some cookie crumbs in Brenton's hair after he left.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. We will post more details about the delivery and more pictures soon. Until then, here are a few...

A Week of Mother's Day Surprises

Not only was yesterday a special day, but ever since last Monday Eric has surprised me with a "Mother's Day Week" of treats everyday since then. Our six year anniversary is this Saturday, May 15. It's quite possible we'll be celebrating our anniversary in the hospital, so Eric made Mother's Day even bigger this year.

On Monday, he surprised me with our favorite treat from Newton Farms in Seabrook Island -- homemade cinnamon rolls with buttercream icing! I was totally shocked. Normally at this time of year, we're headed to the beach to celebrate our anniversary, but baby Brenton had other plans in mind :) One of Eric's co-workers was going to Seabrook Island for a retreat, so Eric placed an order for a dozen cinnamon rolls the day she was to head back to Knoxville (Sunday). She brought them to work last Monday and Eric surprised me with them later that night.

On Tuesday, Eric gave me the debut album for Court Yard Hounds (Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire -- the two sisters from the Dixie Chicks) and a decaf caramel frappachino from Starbucks.

On Wednesday, Eric gave me red roses and on Thursday, a book titled "Same Kind of Different as Me" (a New York Times best-seller). On Friday, we had movie night and I picked "Nine" for us to watch -- very good by the way.

Saturday morning was a special day, too. Eric packed a picnic lunch and we took Noah to UT Gardens -- one of our favorite places to go. This is where we took Noah the Saturday before my first day back at work from maternity leave. This weekend was our "last" as a family of three, so Eric wanted to do something special and capture some photos. The roses were in full bloom and smelled amazing. Our favorite was the "Fame" rose. Noah's favorite part was looking at the Koi fish and running around the gardens.

For Mother's Day, I woke up to the sweetest alarm clock -- Noah saying, "Happy Mother's Day" while Eric held a tray of breakfast, flowers and cards. Of course Noah wanted "a bite! a bite!" as soon as Eric gave me the tray :) Then Gabi wanted in on the action and begged for a few bites of her own! After breakfast, we left for church and then a yummy brunch. One of the best gifts I got was taking an hour and a half nap later that afternoon. For dinner we grilled out and Eric reminded me that I'd only had to cook dinner one day the entire week!

Noah is so blessed to have a daddy like Eric to show him what it means to be a great husband and father. I'm also blessed to be married to my best-friend!

Here's to celebrating all the wonderful women in our life!

The soon-to-be BIG brother

I just love this picture of Noah. Eric took the photo on Easter Sunday after he asked us to put his "cape" on (a.k.a. his blankie). He loves to fly around the house pretending to be Super Grover or Super Noah. He looks like such a little man in this photo, too. He was wearing a white linen dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and light blue linen pants. I catch glimpses of him and think he looks just like a baby again, or Eric or me, but mainly he looks like himself--a handsome little blue-eyed heartbreaker.

As for Brenton, my 39-week appointment was today. Everything was great (heart beat, blood pressure, measurements, etc) and I'm almost 3 cm dilated! The plan is to go back to the doctor on Monday, get checked and set me up to be admitted next Wednesday morning...that is unless Baby B (as Noah calls him) decides to come on his own. I was kinda hoping to be admitted on Monday (5/10/10), but my doc is out until 5/12/10 (Brenton's actual due date).

Happy Day :)

Baby Showers

We've been blessed to have had three awesome baby showers for Brenton, hosted by some of the best friends anyone could ask for.

Our friends Kelley and Donna hosted a "girls shower" for Tyra at Cafe 4 on Market square in Knoxville a few weeks ago. We got some great gifts, and all the guests enjoyed the yummy cupcakes and coffee.

Tyra's office threw her a "surprise" shower earlier this month. Unfortunately, Noah wasn't feeling well that day, so Eric stayed home with him. Even though he missed the party, Noah certainly enjoyed eating the leftover cake Tyra brought home.

Earlier this week, my office threw us a shower as well. I was surprised by a visit from Tyra and Noah at work, since I thought she'd be unable to come. We got some great gifts and ate some really good food, made by my co-workers at UT.

Here are a few photos from the UT Baby Shower...

Easter Egg Hunt at UT Gardens & Easter Sunday

The day before Easter we took Noah to UT Gardens. He got to meet the Easter bunny, make "bunny ears" and mix some "Magic Easter Mulch" (oats, shredded carrots and sprinkles) to scatter around our yard. He wasn't sure of the big Easter bunny at first, but was willing to give him a high-five. We walked around the beautiful gardens and took some cute photos. Each of the kids in Noah's age group were allowed to hunt up to six eggs. Here he is coloring bunny ears.

He could have spent the entire morning watching the Koi in this new rock garden memorial tribute.

Hippity, hoppity!

On Easter Sunday, we listened to our church's sermon online since Noah had been up and down during the night with second molar teething pain. You can listen to it here: http://www.cspc.net/sermons/. After church, Tyra made a yummy Easter brunch--Honeybaked ham, mashed potatoes and green peas, pineapple casserole, Sister Schubert rolls, raspberry tea and homemade carrot cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Grand Don drove up and got to spend some good time with us and Noah which was fun.

Good Friday at the Zoo

We had such a fun (and busy) Easter weekend! On Good Friday, we took Noah to the Knoxville Zoo. We got there right as it opened, the weather was great and Noah was quite content in his stoller for a couple hours thanks to snacks, juice and a dum-dums ;) He loved seeing the penguins, turtles, camels and bobcats. He kept calling the bobcats "kitties" and desperately tried to get out of his stroller so he could get closer.
It was such a beautiful spring day to spend at the zoo.

Noah's face was priceless riding the carousel. He chose to ride the giraffe and was so proud to find where Eric was standing each time we passed him. Actually, he chose to ride a tiger and then changed his mind and wanted to ride the giraffe. After the ride was over, he asked me if he could ride again.



Playing "leap frog" in the Kids Cove area. This is where Noah got to see bunnies, turkeys and goats. Noah wasn't sure of the goats at first, but then loved them, brushed them and tried to go into their sleeping areas!