Hot Air Balloon Festival and Fall Fun

We took the boys to the annual Knoxville Hot Air Balloon Festival in Hardin Valley last weekend and had a great time. Noah loved the balloons, and enjoyed feeding the ducks in the nearby pond and seeing a dog-show, where the dogs did tricks like running obstacle courses and catching frisbies.

The weather is finally starting to turn cooler, and we're looking forward to some chilly fall weather.

Brenton is doing awesome. He is growing well and has started eating rice cereal now. He does pretty well with it and keeps most of it in his mouth and not on his face or shirt. He is a smiling machine and likes to laugh a lot. He loves being entertained by Noah, who continues to be a great big brother. Brenton weighs a little bit less than Noah did at this age, but he's taller, so some of Noah's clothes fit a little bit shorter on him. he loves to be held a lot, but is now enjoying playing in his exersaucer and play mat for a few minutes at a time. He is also good at dodging stuffed animals that Noah may be tossing around the house.

Noah is learning more and more in his new class at school. He always comes home with new songs to sing and new prayers to say. It's always so neat to hear him bust them out at unexpected times. His imagination is growing more and more and he really enjoys pretending with his many Grover dolls. He is still very much in the "super hero" phase and is hooked on Super Grover and Super Why. If you haven't seen Super Why before, we encourage you to check it out. It has really helped supplement what he's learned about letters and numbers at school in a fun and interactive way. Here are some more tidbits on our always energetic, strong willed, and rough and tumble 2 1/2 year old...

Favorite foods: Pop-Tarts, Cereal Bars (only the Apple/Cinnamon flavor), pizza, fruit snacks, Chick Fil-A nuggets, Rice Krispies, Cheese, and sandwiches. He's not the best dinner eater, but eats his other meals really well. He is losing most of his baby fat and is looking more and more like a little boy instead of a toddler, which is bittersweet.

Favorite Shows: Sesame Street, Super Why, Thomas the Train, and Tom and Jerry. We really have to limit the Tom and Jerry, as it's pretty violent for his age. He thinks the cat's name is "Tom and Jerry" so he often refers to it as "Tom & Jerry and the mouse."

Other fun facts: He is always very proud to wear his "Rocky Top" (orange UT) football jersey and Peyton Manning jersey. He loves to pretend he's going to work and grabs one of our coffee mugs and a bag and says "I go to work...." leaves the room then returns and exclaims "Noah's home"...it's funny! He is good about memorizing songs and enjoys listening to the Roger Day kid's cd in his bedroom. He loves putting on his super hero cape and pretending to fly around the house. He's is still a VERY early riser...5:45 am wake-ups almost every day. Sometimes a little later if we're lucky, and earlier if we're not.

Here are some recent photos from the past few weeks:

Noah loves swinging on the back deck

Gabi decided to come cuddle with Brenton

 First bites of rice cereal

Eating a picnic dinner at the Balloon Festival

Loved feeding the ducks

Noah and Addie loved the balloons

Noah took over the exersaucer and loved playing with it more than B



Labor Day Weekend & Brenton's Baptism

September 4, 2010: The annual "Daddy - Son" helmet pic in honor of the Vols season opener.

Neyland Stadium looked awesome with the new brick facade. It was definitely time for a make-over! The Vols opened the '10 season against UT-Martin and totally beat up on "little brother" with a 50-0 shut-out win!

On Sunday, Sept. 5, Brenton was baptized at Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church by Pastor John Wood. He and Noah were fantastic during the service. Noah loved sitting in church with us and listening to the choir and band. When Pastor Wood took Brenton from Eric's arms, Noah turned to us and said, "Hey, that's Daddy's!" What a funny moment! He's so protective of his little brother. After the baptism, Eric took Noah to his classroom since we knew he'd never make it through the sermon :) While walking down the hallway, Noah kept turning back to the sanctuary saying, "By songs!" and pointing his finger in the air like he was keeping in tune with music.

Here's Grand Don, Aunt Alyssa, Gigi, Noah, Eric, Tyra, JenMommy and Uncle Andrew after the service in front of a beautiful magnolia tree - the same tree we stood in front of after Noah's baptism on May 4, 2008.

This is the same blanket Noah had on the day he was baptized. It's a beautiful handmade blue and white blanket that we'll pass on in our family for years to come!

End of Summer Wrap-Up

On July 12, I went back to work after an 8-week maternity leave. Eric took this photo before I headed out the door to take the boys to school. We did the same thing with Noah after my return to work when he was 16 weeks old. I honestly thought I'd be fine dropping Brenton off on his first day because Noah's been attending the same school for a year now and I'd gotten to know all the teachers really well. Boy was I wrong! When we got to school, I took Noah to his class first and then headed to the nursery. I'd brought all Brenton needed the week before, so all I had to do was give him to his teacher, Miss Sherri. Well, I started to cry before I even handed him off! She was so sweet and said I could call or text her as much as I wanted to. Sherri sent me a text picture of Brenton later that morning and said he was having a great day so far. Since then, B's been doing great and as of this week, is no longer the youngest in his class because a 6-week-old boy is in there with him now.

Here's a picture of the boys playing together on the floor. They were both hamming it up for the camera! At the end of July, we went to my 10-year high school reunion. We went to Eric's 10-year reunion last year, but this time around I had to plan it.  It was a great weekend and I loved catching up with everyone, but I'm not going to lie...it's been tough planning it for the past year and taken up a lot of time, especially with a newborn! Eric was a huge help and my committee was great. If you want to see more pictures and read a re-cap, visit http://hendersonvilleclassof2000.blogspot.com/. We had a blast and loved seeing everyone.  

We had a great time for Alyssa's 26th birthday, too. Mom a.k.a "Gigi" came up and we celebrated at Bayou Bay and goodies from The Cupcakery.

Brenton is definitely getting more animated lately...just check out this face!

Here's Jennifer (JenMommy) hanging out with the boys on a beautiful summer day. It's tough to try and get a good shot with both boys, but they did great here!

On August 7, we went over to Addie's house to celebrate her 3rd birthday party. Noah devoured a strawberry cupcake while Addie enjoyed the frosting of two cupcakes. They are hilarious to watch together. He loved playing with water balloons, water guns and with Addie in the kid pool. As soon as Noah arrived, Addie grabbed his hand to show him around...she just melts my heart!

On August 18, the boys started the first day of the 2010-2011 school year. Noah was promoted to the older 2s class and we love his new teachers. He's been much more interested in going potty lately, too. I meant to get a picture of the two of them together July 12 on Brenton's first day, but just couldn't get my act together that morning! It can be hectic dropping them off and picking them up at times with bags, bottles, blankies, Noah's lunch, etc, but I love giving them kisses goodbye and seeing them first thing after work. Noah is a big help, too. For the first week though when he and Brenton started going together, Noah wanted me to carry him while having to carry Brenton in his carrier at the same time. Needless to say, my arms got a nice work out for a few weeks. Now, Noah runs to the front door carrying the security card and lets us in the front door.

On August 22, Brenton and I went to AOII Bid Day. Of course he had to wear red! It was great to catch up with the girls and show him off as he flirted with over a hundred cute college girls :) Noah stayed home and napped while Eric got some time in on the PS3.

There's a cute story behind this photo. Brenton was in his crib having tummy time and playing with some toys. Noah was standing on the side of them crib watching him when I grabbed the camera and took some pictures of Brenton playing. I kept telling him to "say cheese!" Well, after a few shots of Brenton, Noah looked at me and said, "I say cheese, too!" and tilted his head to pose. We love these little guys so much!

Eric's been super busy with work events lately and went to a conference in mid-August at Ole Miss. He ate some great food and got to hear Archie Manning speak. We're so excited for football season to be here and can't wait to cheer on the Vols this Saturday as they take on UT-Martin!

4th of July weekend

We had such a fun and relaxing 4th of July weekend. It started off with a visit from our great Cincinnati friends Michael and Emily Munoz, who brought their two boys over to play. We had breakfast together, watched the boys play and spent time catching up with each other -- not to mention swapping parenting stories and advice!

Later in the day, we took the boys on their very first train ride on the Three Rivers Rambler. It was a quick trip around the downtown area. Noah's gotten into trains over the past year and loves to say "choo-choo" whenever he sees a train or hears one nearby. The train conductor gave Noah a pretend ticket and even punched it for him.  He also gave him some Thomas the Train stickers. He didn't let go of either the entire trip and was very well-behaved. Brenton slept the entire trip and we managed to get a family photo, too. That same day, we went to a cook-out at one of Eric's co-worker's home. We took the boys and wondered how Noah would do since it started at 7 and he's usually asleep by 8 p.m. To our surprise, he was perfectly fine and had such a great time. He even stayed awake the whole ride home (they live 30 minutes from us) and loved looking for the moon outside his car window.

On the 4th, we relaxed outside and spent some great quality time together as a family. We got Noah a slip 'n slide and grilled out. There was such a nice breeze that Brenton got to nap outside while the rest of us played in the water. This is the same onesie Noah wore on his first 4th of July. Noah's former school made the nursery kids onesies that said, "My first 4th of July." Of course it was a little baggy on B, but he looked quite cute anyway!

Noah LOVED the slip 'n slide...almost as much as Eric :) Here are some photos of our little camera ham!

A Jumpin' June

Summertime in the Haag household has truly flown by. Brenton is 7 weeks old now and Noah seems to be getting "older" by the day. We've spent lots of time outside (on the deck mainly) and being together as a family. Eric recently turned this cardboard box into a fort for Noah. He loves to take his Sesame Street "friends" into it and play, put on puppet shows or sing. Super Grover is still VERY much his go-to pal of choice though. Gigi came up from Florida to help out the first week of June and spolied us with home cooked meals, cleaning and watching the boys. Aunt Susie (ZaZa) and Uncle Steve came to vist on June 3 after a fun weekend in Pigeon Forge riding motorcycles.  

Grand Don turned 66 on June 18, so he drove up and spent some good time with the boys. Noah and I made him chocolate chip cookies. Noah loved to help by counting the cups of flour, scraping down the bowl and most importantly tasting the batter :)

Father's Day was extra special this year with the addition of our sweet new son. It was a great day spent at church, watching golf and relaxing around the house. Last week, the Chapmans came over to meet Brenton and play with Noah. They used to live across the street, but moved last summer. Noah ADORES Caroline and Coleman.

We also tested out our new double stroller. Noah loves going for walks around the neighborhood or at the mall and feels like such a big boy riding up front. Sometimes he likes to pretend he's flying.

Since Brenton's arrival, Noah has been quite motherly lately. Yesterday, he asked me for a diaper for Grover, put Grover down for a nap and carried him around in the baby carrier. Today, he borrowed Brenton's paci and blanket and put Grover in his bouncer to take a nap.

Brenton and I went to an engagement party for our friends Katie and Nathan. Eric had to work and Noah was at our house with JenMommy. She also came up to help out the last week of June. It was great having our moms come up at different times in June so that we had an extra set of hands with the boys -- something we're always thankful for. As you can see, Brenton decided to work on his tan during the party. Eric is a groomsman in the soon-to-be newlyweds' ceremony in August and we couldn't be happier for them!

Here's Brenton getting to meet Aunt Holly and Uncle Lakon. Noah had a blast with his cool older cousins Aidan and Dylan. He was a wild man, too -- either bossing them around or trying to keep up with them.

On June 27, Eric got to feed Brenton a bottle for the first time. Grandmommie Penny also helped out. Lots of family got to spend good time with the boys, too. Uncle Tim, Aunt Christine, cousin Crystal and her husband Greg, along with Aunt Amy, Uncle Guy, cousins Leah and Benjamin, Momette and cousin Karen. We are so blessed to have such great family and friends that love us and love our boys because we certainly love them!

And last, but not least, Eric and I went to one of the best birthday parties -- an 80s theme 30th birthday celebration for our friend Julie. In college, Julie, her husband Scott, Eric and I would go to 80s cover band concerts. A few years ago, Julie said she was going to have a big 80s party for her 30th. We were so glad we could go and had so much fun. The decor was perfect, but Eric's costume was my favorite part!