MAY!

I've been called out!  My working Sister-in-Law who has two children has blogged 10 times between her two children since my last post.   I had an excuse through May- it was  crazy month.  Somehow, June slipped through my fingers though, without a single post... oops.  

Shall we begin with Camping?

Noah, meet dirt.  Dirt, meet Noah.  Love at first sight!

Notice how our tent is the farthest away from the rest of the campers.  I believe Scott did that so the other campers would not hear our screams while the bulls and horses circled our tent when Noah and I were trying to fall to sleep and he was drinking around the camp fire with Jay.  I told Noah to be quiet- he looks a little like bait.

Hungry cow that circled our tent thinking Noah would be his next meal the previous night.

"Daddy, I want one... Me too, son... Go ask Mom."

"Paige, are you sure you know how to work this thing?"

I know- Cute runs in the family!

"Ready to go feed the horses?  I'll drive, Me Ma!"

This horse was ready for his close up- and his apple

Angry Bull- chased us for a while- very scary

"I'm ready to go swimming now!"

The Peace River was better than I ever could have imagined.  It was a perfect temperature, shallow enough for Noah to stand in and swim if he wanted and we found sharks' teeth!  A more perfect camping spot could not possibly exist!

Noah's first camping trip was magical- to say the least!

P.S.- The wedding was perfect too- That will be my next post- I have to get the pictures.

Spring is in the Air!

Noah's second Easter morning awarded him his first Easter basket- including a foam dart, egg-shaped chalk, a beach ball, and marshmallow bunnies- YUM!  

It was followed by a morning in church (where he 

opted to stay in his Sunday School class!) and his 

very first Easter egg hunt- although I am not quite 

certain he realized he was hunting for Easter eggs...

Noah also attended his very first beach wedding- congrats to Janet & Billy!  As you can see by the picture up top, I am not certain what the outcome will be of his next beach wedding...  Aunt Steph and soon-to-be Uncle Dan are most likely picturing something elegant and romantic with their angelic nieces and nephews witnessing their marriage at sunset.  I believe Noah has another plan in mind- he will probably be running down the aisle toward the surf hoping to accomplish his dream of swimming with the dolphins.  I see two members of the wedding party (Scott and me) chasing after...  It shall be an event to remember!

Here is Noah enjoying a little of Mama Mia's finest cheese pizza- the best pizza in town!

Finally, this month, Noah fell in love. His first crush was 

for "man's best friend," (aka Uncle Jim's singing puppy).  

The words the puppy so appropriately sings are:

"And they call it 'puppy love'... Well, I guess they'll never

know... How a young heart really feels... 

And how I love her so"

If you look closely to the video, you will see Noah dancing with his love. While it may not be obvious on film- he 

does sway to the music!

Stay tuned for more updates- camping with a 15-month-

old (yes- in a tent!) and Attack of the Gnome-Snatcher!

March Madness

March was a busy month for Mr. Balboa.  First he wished a very happy first birthday to his best buddy Harper.  Harper's mom threw a chic birthday party for our favorite bug.  Happy belated birthday Harper!!!  We love you! 

He then took Paige for a short walk and had his 

favorite breakfast- peanut butter waffles!

He learned two new words, which he now says non-stop- "No!" and "Uh-Oh!"- both are still cute...

He fell in love- more on that in the next post- and he met his newest cousin, Liv Bracken Howard.

Welcome to the world, baby Liv!  We are so happy you are here!  Noah is already saying your name- whether he realizes it or not!

Noah's Blog!

Everyone,

Noah has grown quite disgusted with me recently due to my lack of reporting on him. Therefore he has decided to type this blog. I will do my best to translate once complete...


N BVHBB N CCsB 12V

n .58888888888888]457777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777
b c 4777777777747]4 b b3 XXXXXXXXV,IJO9OVHIYGTFdriygoi;u1t@3wqvyu he23 FCCCCCccccccccccccz g t5 vj bg cccc c nj gggggggg\4 xlksW!!JJJN X CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC


I think he wanted to tell everyone he has not forgotten them- he loves you all very much and promises to allow me to download some pictures for the blog very soon.

Par Le Vou Francais?

Scott and I have been anxiously awaiting Noah's first official word for quite some time now.  While he has become quite adept at walking, his skills as a linguist have yet to be mastered... or so we thought...

This morning when he awoke at 3:15 (just for kicks!) and proceeded to tell us his life story (don't worry it is a short story) I noticed he was speaking with a French accent.  Oh my goodness the poor child has been speaking to us in French all along and neither of us had the sense to realize it!  Here I took 5 years of Spanish (still don't understand the language) and Scott took 3 years of Spanish (and got 2 years of credit!) and it was all for nothing.  Had I known in the Eighth grade that my son would be French, I would not have signed up for the wrong language class!  

Honestly everything is starting to fall into place- I thought he was whining at the end of the day because he was tired.  The truth is he is has been letting out his frustration all along that no one understands what he is saying because we won't pony up the dough for a French to English dictionary!  Don't you worry, Noah.  We will be heading to Books-A-Million today!

In other news, we were invited to join Uncle Jay, Aunt Meagan, and Precious Paige at their church last Sunday.  Suffice it to say I feel extremely guilty it was the first time Noah graced the steps of a church (actually it is a middle school- but Jesus was there anyway!).  

I was a little nervous about how Noah would do in Sunday School.  I had visions of him screaming while we walked away and bite marks on him and the other children.  Jesus forgives- but I fear it is not quite that easy with parents of infants... My fears were pointless!  When we got there, a very good friend of my Mom's was running the class Noah was in- she was very excited to see Noah and I didn't worry about him during the service because I knew she was taking great care of him.  When we returned she told me how he talked the whole time (in French, I'm sure) and how she thought he would be an engineer because he investigated how everything in the nursery worked.  There were no bite marks on anyone, plus, he had the only poopy diaper in the class- Scott was so proud!  We are looking forward to going back this Sunday.

I have to go now.  I just asked Noah if he would like a waffle for breakfast and he answered "da."  Isn't that Russian?  Maybe we'll hold off on that trip to the bookstore.

Cause and Effect?

Noah, genius that he is, learned how to turn the faucet on in our Master Bathroom tub several months ago.  He frequently joins Scott and me in the bathroom in the mornings as we are getting dressed for the day.  

He has had a basket of toys next to the tub since he was 4 months old to keep him occupied - allowing us ample time for personal hygiene.  Of late, his interest in his basket of toys has dwindled as he has become far more intrigued with the tub faucet.  He used to just turn the water off and on, off and on, off and on... I often wondered what Gail, our downstairs neighbor thought I was doing in the bathroom while this was occurring.  

Then he seemed to decide he liked the sound of the water- so he would just turn it on and leave it on.  This, of course, made Scott gleam with pride on a number of occasions.  The ever Conservative, doting father- "you see, Janet" he would say, "Noah is already contributing to my Carbon On-set Program!"

His newest tub experience involves turning the water on, then tossing his once-forgotten toys into the tub to watch them float or get drenched.  I knew I had left them in the bathroom for a reason... Did you think it would stop there?  Oh, no!  Our ever over-achieving son has added such items as bathroom towels, floor mats, clean laundry, magazines, and our shoes for a bath.  Usually I walk in from my closet where I have been getting dressed to find him smiling enthusiastically as he reaches his hand under the faucet to watch how the water sprays over the shoes I plan to wear that day.  (No worries here everyone- he is no where near tall enough to climb in)

Not only has our bundle of joy added to the items which are thrown into the water, he has also moved on to different bodies of water...  Did you think your flip-flops were too good for our toilets?  Not in this house!  I assure you, Noah shows no discrimination when it comes to the type of footwear, nor person to whom the footwear belongs.  We have equal-rights toilets!  No shoe shall willingly go un-dunked!  For that matter, no cat shall either!

The folks at Safety First might tell you the toilet-lid secure-latches are to prevent your children from drowning, but I think they might have had cat and shoe-safety in mind as well...

The books all call this "cause and effect."  I call it a reason to remove all cloth from the bathroom and hide my shoes. 

Oh, and for any future visitors who leave the lid up- it is every shoe for themselves!

What a Month!

Noah was playing in his "yes" cabinet the other day and pulled this thermos out- I thought of the last time I had used it- one year ago in the hospital when he arrived!

Noah also chose the perfect Birthday present for his dad- 

he chose that day to officially begin walking!

We know it might have been a bit much for his first birthday, but, 

as his Aunt Amanda (a.k.a. party planner) says, 

"what better place to celebrate than the Happiest place on Earth?"

Joining us in Disney were Gams, Aunt Stephie, Uncle Ben, Aunt Amanda, Harper (a.k.a "Bug"), and Grandma Janet (Harper's Grandma)

Noah was also excited to visit with his Aunt Lisa, and cousins Blake, Bill, Julie, Bill, and Christopher.  Between all the family, friends, and doting Disney Characters, I believe his head may be a little swollen.  Of course the massive amounts of birthday cake he consumed may have contributed to that as well.

The trip was wonderful and was followed by a trip to the Wedding Dress shop, where his Aunt Stephanie found a dress that makes her look like nothing short of a Greek Goddess.  She will make a beautiful bride.  We then joined the Andrews family for more cake and celebration- Noah is now a birthday cake-eating pro!

At one year old, Noah has eight teeth, walks (no longer like Frankenstein- now more like he is going for the Heisman trophy), drinks from a sippy cup, and says "Mama"- although I am still questioning that last triumph, as he calls everyone "Mama"- me, Scott, the cats, his grandparents, and his push cars.  He is also currently working on a cure for Cancer- I will let everyone know when he has accomplished that last task.

On a sad note, a cherished member of our family passed away this weekend.  Lilly, my Mom's (and our) dachshund was the first dog Noah met- they both loved each other at first sight.  She was loyal, kind, loving, happy, and truly exemplified the meaning of "man's best friend."  It was a blessing and an honor to know her and to call her part of our family.  She will be missed very much.