our 3 boys

This picture was taken right after school earlier this week.
In this picture:

• Noah is wearing his favorite 'Santa ' jammie pants. These days he likes to change into his pj's as soon as we get home;



• Joshua currently wears shoe size 2 (35);



• And Ben is trying to steal some potato chips from his younger brother.

Noah singing his ABC's

Wow...my blog is still active! I know it has been way too long, but finding the time to actually post something is almost impossible!

On our way home from preschool today Noah started singing the ABC song and I thought to myself I better get this on film right away. He is so cute and getting so big.

One of our soccer stars

Here are a couple of video's of Ben this morning.

Disneyland Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Hail storm

A hail storm caused quite some excitement this evening! First it had been raining heavy all day, then the hail storm and now it is sunny. Not for long though it suppose to rain, rain, rain for the next few days - starting to look forward to the summer!

My valentines/birthday card from Jim...

A little late, but finally getting around to sharing this!

Happy Birthday 2011 from Jacqueline Pluijmen on Vimeo.

These are absolutely the best!

Noah @ 21 months

He is almost 21 months. Weighs 37.5 lbs.

He is a super cute, smart & funny little guy.

Today I heard him say clear as could be: "Oh man!"

Other favorite words are: good job, nice, eat, snack, dog, rock, frog, Josh (we think he likes to say the -sh sound), Joshie, mama, woof woof (his teddy), book, pick up (multiple times in a row). And he loves to make animal sounds...his bunny sound is the cutest !

Besides playing with his big brothers he is all into his shape sorter, puzzles, legos, cars, everyone's shoes and coloring with markers. If you give him crayons, he will throw them across the room.

He recently graduated from a high chair to a booster seat, and he loves to click the buckles even when he is not sitting in it.

The best part is that overall he is a happy boy except when things don't go his way!!! He especially has a hard time when we drop off Joshie at preschool or speech club - he wants to stay and play. Or when he doesn't get to play in the garage! Then he will throw an absolute fit.

Visit to Santa.

All three did great!!!

Today was the last day of school. Ben and Josh are now home from school for two weeks. Excitement is growing every day...
I am so relieved that we all are feeling better. First Noah got sick and then both Joshie and I came down with strep throat, although mine was without the fever and rash.

Here is 'Nick the Elf' - he sees and hears everything that goes on around the house. Every night he flies to the Northpole to report to Santa and then returns and finds a different spot in the house. The boys run to find him every morning...they thought it was hilarious when he was sitting in the tree one morning.

Today we received mail from the Northpole. Ben & Josh listened intently to what Santa wrote - leaving them with a big smile on their fave when they heard that Santa will be stopping by on Christmas Eve.

Ben proudly showing off his Gingerbread House he made at school.

Noah helping his big brother making Christmas decorations for 'every' kitchen cupboard door.

Wishing that Santa could send me one of his 'Wrapping Elfs'

Mailing letters to Santa.

Yesterday the boys wrote their letter to Santa. They wanted to make sure he knew they had been very good boys, although I had to remind them that that is not always the case. They agreed to let him know that sometimes they had a hard time listening. Ben also told him that sometimes he acts up a bit when something doesn't go his way and Joshie confessed that he doesn't always eat his dinner. But they both promised to try to do better! Then they let him know what they would like for Christmas. Ben wished for a bike, legos, baseball cards and Wii games and Joshie asked for a castle, legos and more 'CARS' cars.

Christmas tree made out of Legos!

Handmade presents made by Ben!

House full of excitement...

The boys are super excited. They are coloring, decorating, making ornaments out of perler beads, wrapping, reading Christmas stories, watching Christmas movies and asking thousands of questions. Noah is captivated by Santa and the Christmas tree and so far he has been doing really good with leaving the ornaments on the tree. (keeping my fingers crossed)

Every night after dinner they get to open another door on the chocolate advent calendar. And for extra measure we also had to create our own countdown calendar, which they cross off every morning.

Ben lost his 1st tooth!

Ben lost his first tooth! He was so excited, but dissappointed at the same time because the tooth was nowhere to be found! He thinks he swallowed it.
The toothfairy did come by and left a dollar bill under his pillow (it actually ended up under his bed after a night of tossing and turning).

Getting the tree!

Sunday we ventured out to get our tree. It was fun to see the boys so excited, although it felt like total chaos at times. Probably because we forgot the stroller for Noah, who just wanted to run free and play in the mud.

Noah did not mind at all not being in the stroller!

For candy we will pose!

Checking out the trees & mud!


I just love being to walk around freely!

Our Christmas Tree spot



The boys hard at work

And off we go!

Photograph by Ben

With lots of assistance from our three little helpers the Christmas tree is up and decorated. Will try take some pictures tomorrow & post them!

Happy Halloween

A skeleton pirate, a sweet little bear and Batman!

Happy Halloween!

GO GIANTS!!!

Ben watching the WorldSeries Game 1 against the Texas Rangers with his buddy Devon.

Ready for Trick-or-Treating.

Oregon

This past weekend we drove up to Brookings, Oregon to pick up our dog Bella. She had been at 'summercamp' with Mark and Sue in Portland. She is excited to be back home, but I can tell she is missing them! Noah is so entertained by her and does not leave her sight and and uses every opportunity to grab her tail.

Noah's first steps

Slowly but surely Noah is starting to walk....

Visitors from Minnesota...

They have been here a week already and only a couple more days before they leave...

Check out Nicole's blog to see what we have been up to!

Noah turns 1!

Lollipop bribe.

I had to bribe Joshie with a lollipop so I could do my workout DVD. He sat and watched me for a while, then he started exercising with me, but shortly after that he began to tackle and wrestle me. At least I got to work on my triceps...they are hurting for sure - feel them with just typing up this post.

Codornices Park

Today we met Nana and Grandpap for lunch and some playtime at Codornices Park in Berkeley.

The boys played basketball, soccer, had fun on the swings, and explored around the park, but the big winner was the slide. Grandpap brought some cardboard and Jim brought wax paper to make the ride down super fast. It was a great time and it certainly tired them out. Noah and Ben pretty much fell asleep as soon as the car started moving. Joshie barely stayed awake for the ride home, but was fast asleep in his bed by 6pm!

Fort Windsor

This is how our family room looked like this Sunday morning. Building a fort has become more and more frequent on the weekend. The boys love it and it actually entertains them for hours. This time it was extra special because Devon and Colby were here. Noah keeps a close eye on it all and even made it into the fort a couple of times.

Noah @ 9 months

I skipped a few months so this is way overdue!

Here are some tidbits of Noah @ 9 months

• weighs 28lbs
• has 2 teeth and working on 2 more
• sleep through the night plus 2 naps during the day
• wears size 4 diapers almost needs a 5 though
• wears 18 month clothing and some 24 months
• crawls all of the place now
• tries to stand up
• likes to play with his brothers' toys
• says "Mama"
• gets upset when Mama leaves his sight
• pretty mellow baby but can get really upset if he is hungry, needs a burp or diaper change
• does NOT lay still for diaper changes, which makes it quite challenging at times
• loves playing with his Laugh & Learn Puppy
• really likes the swing and going for stroller rides!

Trying to get a decent picture of all three boys together is almost impossible. Either someone is moving, making a funny face, or touching someone...

Ben has been home all week so far with the flu (and Jim was home all of last week). I am really keeping my fingers crossed that no one else will get it, because I am ready for things to go back to normal.

Our baby is crawling...

Time to babyproof the house again...

Scooting backwards...

First signs that Noah is on the move...

Santa visit...

Today we took them to go see Santa at the mall. Ben and Josh were super excited and ofcourse Noah had no clue, but was a good sport. They both were a little shy at first, but recovered really quick when Santa asked them what they would like for Christmas.

Ben's wished for Lego's and Joshie wished for more Cars...

Swing time...

My first time in the swing and I love it!!!

Noah @ 6 months

Here is our little six month old.

Happy Halloween!

Peter Pan, a lion cub and one scary pirate...

Ben could not decide what he wanted to be for Halloween...for pictures he wanted to be a pirate, for the school parade a baseball player (Timmy Lincecum) and for Trick or Treating tonight he will be a ghost! "It is just such a hard choice", he says.

Happy Halloween everyone!

my three boys...

Not much going on here - just staying super buys with three boys.

Ben started "KinderSkor" which is a 2-year Kindergarten Program. Going to school every day has been an adjustment not just for Ben, but for all of us. Early bedtime, getting him out the door on time, making lunches, homework, paperwork, pick-ups, etc. He loves it though...especially playing tetherball during recess.

These days Ben is very much into Baseball. He is a big San Francisco Giants fan and likes to collect baseball cards. One of his favorite things to do right now is playing catch with Jim...

Joshie now goes to Children's Circle which is a little preschool here in town three mornings per week. He loves his new little 'cool' as he calls it! We CANNOT walk into the building without Joshie wearing his backpack on his back.

We are still working on potty training...we have good days and bad days, but hopefully soon we will be done.

He really likes playing in the dirt and around the house with all of his CARS cars.

Little Noah gets to go for the ride for all the school drop offs and pick ups. He is such a good sport, which makes it a whole lot easier. We are thinking he might be teething already - constanly drooling and putting his fingers in his mouth...