Growing Goodings

For Uncle Ted!

2011-03-24T00:00:00.006-04:00

These boys don't need a reason to dress up...they enjoy wearing costumes any old time.

Wesley and his snowman.

Going to play in the snow!

Caleb is giving his little cousin Jude a huge hug!

Sweet Wesley.

Thanksgiving dinner at Mom and Dad's.

Mom with all 3 of her grandkids! (in order: Caleb, Wesley, Judah)

Chocolate moustache!

Sorry, I can't get my video to upload. I'll have to try again another day.

I just love these little guys!

2010-08-18T21:57:00.003-04:00

Zoo!

2009-09-16T17:41:00.002-04:00

We got to see the baby elephant at the zoo last week, he was so cute! Had a nice view of the tiger too. Wesley, Caleb, and I all had a great time! We went again today but forgot the camera.
We love the zoo!

You Never Let Go

2009-09-16T17:35:00.004-04:00

Wesley likes to sing along to this song. One of our favorites!

Smoothies!

2009-09-16T17:28:00.003-04:00

We love to make fruit smoothies!

Wesley at the park

2009-09-16T17:24:00.001-04:00

Sophia, Ava, and Wesley

2009-09-02T09:23:00.002-04:00

Wesley had so much fun playing with Ava and Sophia when they came over. We enjoyed seeing Brandon and Erin too! The girls are so sweet. These pictures turned out really cute!

"Caweb" Laughing

2009-09-01T19:15:00.005-04:00

Caleb is our little darling, delighting us with his smiles and giggles. We just went to the doctor for a check up and he's already 13lbs 4oz, and 24 and a quarter inches long, and as healthy as can be. He's our little Superman!

Dance Party!

2009-09-01T18:57:00.005-04:00

In case you were wondering what we do around here on Saturday mornings.

David gets the best daddy in the world award for this one! I love that guy!

At the park

2009-09-01T18:54:00.001-04:00

At Home

2009-09-01T18:08:00.001-04:00

2009-08-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

I just love these pictures that Pop Gooding took of the boys a couple weeks ago.

Wesley swimming

2009-08-22T10:28:00.002-04:00

Wesley really loves swimming. Yesterday we got to go swimming with our friends Jenni and baby Jonas.

Today...

2009-08-03T20:19:00.000-04:00

Sweet boys

2009-08-03T20:04:00.003-04:00

Columbus Clippers!

2009-08-03T18:43:00.003-04:00

Summer 2009

2009-08-03T18:33:00.002-04:00

"Mommy look at me I'm upside-down!!" :)

Swinging baby brother.

Fast asleep.

So handsome at Aunt Sarah's wedding.

Caleb and I in between pictures and the wedding ceremony.

Three Weeks

2009-07-07T22:22:00.002-04:00

It is hard to believe that it has already been three weeks since our precious Caleb was born. The memory of that day is still so fresh in my mind. That day and the days following are such sweet memories of a very unique time in life. Caleb is already growing and changing so much. I will try to post some more recent pictures soon, but honestly we have not been taking as many since we've been home. Our days have been filled with caring for our two sons, and enjoying our family. Yesterday we all went to the doctor together for Caleb's check-up. He is doing great and is completely healthy. He weighed in at 9 pounds 8 ounces, and measured 23.5 inches long. He is a growing boy. I just want to thank all of our family and friends for all of your love and support during this time! We are so blessed!

More hospital pictures!

2009-07-07T21:46:00.003-04:00

IT"S A BOY!!!

2009-06-23T18:17:00.003-04:00

Caleb William Gooding was born on Sunday, June 14, at 8:29pm. He was a healthy 9 pounds and 3 ounces, and 20 inches long. This family picture was taken just a few hours after he was born. He came into the world like a whirlwind! You can see his face looks a little purple, that's from bruising caused by such a fast delivery. But it is already almost gone, and both Caleb and I are doing great! Wesley is such a sweet big brother, smothering him with kisses and gentle pats. And David takes care of all of us. He is the one who got us to the hospital on time, and managed to stay calm, and somehow help me from the car to the hospital bed. Caleb was born nine short minutes after we got to the hospital. We are so thankful that we did not get pulled over for speeding (I won't even tell you how fast David was driving, and he never speeds). And we are so thankful for a safe delivery and healthy baby boy!

Anniversary!

2009-05-26T10:07:00.002-04:00

Six years and we've still got it! :) David is still just as handsome and loving as the day I married him. He took me to a beautiful (and delicious) Italian restaurant....just the two of us.

36 weeks and counting

2009-05-26T10:05:00.001-04:00

Looking and feeling a little bit like I'm carrying around a watermelon! :)

Mother's Day

2009-05-26T09:59:00.001-04:00

I love my sweet little Wesley! He gives the best hugs and kisses.

Playing in the sand

2009-05-26T09:43:00.003-04:00

He fell asleep on the floor while he was watching his cars go around the track:

2009-05-06T14:24:00.002-04:00

If you can believe it, these are the only pictures I have taken since Easter!

Wesley and I went out to help Uncle Geoff and Aunt Mindy paint a little bit at their new house a couple weeks ago. He loved climbing that ladder. And of course he leaned up against a wall with wet paint on it, so we took his shirt off in an attempt to clean it. He looked like a real little construction worker. :)

Happy Easter!!!

2009-04-12T22:09:00.005-04:00

We had a great Easter Sunday today! I'm sorry I could not decide which pictures to post, so I had to share them all. :) Wesley looked like such a handsome little man. You can't tell, but his tie has little puppy dogs on it, and he really liked wearing it. We had a good church service this morning, then Geoff & Mindy had us over for lunch and Mindy made a delicious pot roast. We also did some egg hunting in the living room. Wesley really liked that and kept wanting to do it again and again!

Here's a belly picture at 30 weeks! Can you believe it! So just about 10 weeks till the baby comes. Or maybe just 7 if this baby comes at the same time Wesley did. Wesley was born at exactly 37 weeks. I really do enjoy being pregnant! And we are all having fun watching and feeling my belly move. Baby and I are both very healthy and feeling good! We are so thankful for our little family.

Here are our attempts at a family picture. I'm looking very squinty in the bright sun, but David and Wesley look cute!

Us with Geoff and Mindy and another couple from China they had over (I can't remember their names, but they were fun to get to know).

This is a video of Wesley's very first time looking for eggs.

Coloring eggs

2009-04-12T21:42:00.004-04:00

We had fun coloring eggs on Saturday!

Playdough

2009-04-12T21:38:00.001-04:00

Concentrating hard working with his playdough at his little table.

Snapshots from our week

2009-04-05T21:19:00.004-04:00

Here are a few snapshots of our family around the house this week. Daddy and Wesley are relaxing on the floor, looking for pretend animals on the ceiling. Wesley really prefers to have no clothes on whenever possible, so that is a common occurance around our house.

Wesley is helping me listen to the baby. (no you can't really hear anything with the stethoscope, but he likes doing it).

Giving the baby a sweet little kiss!

Go CATS!!!

The laundry basket derby....good thing they've got their helmets on!

Wesley insisted on wearing this mask and ears to go outside to play. Some friends gave it to him for his birthday, I think it's a mouse or something.

Then he took off the mask and just wore the ears for awhile. He's picking some of the neighbors "flowers" (actually ground cover) for Mommy. Hopefully they won't mind. I love it that he is at that age where he picks little weeds like dandelions for me. It really does make a mommy feel special!

Rainy Day

2009-03-25T21:59:00.003-04:00

Here's our little guy playing in the rain today! Last week storytime at the library was all about rain, so today he was really excited to put on his boots and rain jacket, and most of all to get to use an umbrella. I just thought it was adorable, so I had to share it. He splashed in the puddles and kept holding the umbrella the whole time. Even while chasing the neighborhood cat named "Rainy" which he loves. Here's a little video clip, sorry I wasn't holding the camera very steady. Isn't it funny how we sometimes think rainy days can be gloomy, but for kids they are just as much fun! It's good to see life through the eyes of a child. Simple pleasures.

At the zoo

2009-03-22T20:21:00.002-04:00

We had a fun time at the zoo today. It was the second time we have gone this year so far, and we can't wait to go lots more! One of Wesley's favorite things today was actually the komodo dragon (the huge lizard looking thing) which I really don't like to look at. In the first picture he's climbing on the statue of the komodo dragon...he enjoyed that almost as much as the real thing. It was a beautiful day to be outside!

Belly pictures

2009-03-20T20:56:00.002-04:00

Here are some more belly pictures. These were taken today at about 26 and a half weeks, which is about 6 and a half months along. The Goodings are definately growing, in more ways than one! :)

At the park

2009-03-20T20:52:00.003-04:00

Here are a few pictures of playing at the park after supper. It was a lot colder today than it has been, but that didn't bother Wesley any.

Singing the ABC's

2009-03-13T20:16:00.002-04:00

Enjoying the weather with Daddy!

2009-03-11T15:25:00.001-04:00

The Explorium!

2009-03-11T15:08:00.004-04:00

We went to the Explorium in Lexington Kentucky last week with Papa! It use to be called the Lexington Children's Museum. Wesley had a lot of fun! Everything was hands-on, and there was lots to explore!

Entertrainment Junction!

2009-02-27T10:32:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we went to Entertrainment Junction near Cincinnati, with our friends Aurelia, Emil, and Remy. It was a really neat place, worth visiting for kids and adults. They are doing a special Thomas the train theme right now. We all had a great time! The boys had a lot of fun playing in the play area, riding the little train, and seeing the huge model train exibit.

There was also this crazy mirror maze, which didn't have anything to do with trains, but it was hilarious. I don't even know how to explain it, but there were all these mirrors that made it look like there were long hallways, but really you would walk right into a mirror. Just imagine trying to walk through this with two, two years olds who love to run down hallways!! Luckily no one was hurt too bad, although both Wesley and Emil ran right into a mirror pretty hard. Aurelia and I were trying to tell them not to run, while we ourselves were holding our arms out in front of us trying not to run into a wall, all the while she was pulling a stroller behind her. And you couldn't always tell where the boys were because of all the mirrors. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time, but you probably had to be there to really appreciate it. Not too long after that there was a curtain maze, where behind the wrong curtain was a wall. I mean seriously they should warn you before you go in there with little boys who love to run! :) Nobody ran into a wall in that one though, by this time they knew better I guess.

Out of all the cool things there, Wesley's favorite thing was still just playing with the big train table, like they have at Barnes and Noble. He had a lot of fun with his friend Emil, and they looked like they could be brothers. It was a really fun thing to do on a rainy day, and maybe it will help us get through the rest of the cold winter days. Have I mentioned I'm really looking forward to summer! Here are some pictures from our day...

Happy Birthday David!

2009-02-24T21:08:00.004-05:00

David turned 30 yesterday! We went to Texas Roadhouse and ate some delicious steaks to celebrate. Then we came home and had some tasty cheesecake! Here's the birthday boy with his balloons!!!
Here he is with the signs that Wesley and I made for him...

Daddy and Wesley making the "cheese" face at Texas Roadhouse. What a ham.

The good old self portrait.

And the birthday boy with his cheesecake. It just has one candle, cause we didn't want to ruin it with a bunch of holes. :) Happy Birthday sweetie!

Our Baby!

2009-02-10T20:56:00.003-05:00

Here's our baby inside my belly at 21 weeks! David took these pictures of me today. These are the first "belly" pictures we have taken this pregnancy. I am looking pregnant, and trying to wear clothes that show it off. :) I am feeling good and really enjoying this stage of pregnancy.

We had our second, and probably last, ultrasound today. It was so fun to see the baby! Everything looked great and healthy. The baby weighs exactly one pound right now, which is about average. The heartrate was around 160 in case you're interested (which is normal). We resisted the temptation to find out the gender...sorry for those of you who were hoping we might "accidentaly" find out. :) It was so cute, the baby kept giving me little jabs that looked like little punches where the doctor was pushing on my belly. Here are a couple pictures. In the first one you can see a little hand waving, and some fingers...

Here the baby is in the crawling position, face down with the head to the right. You can see the leg and arm really clearly. Our baby is growing and getting stronger. David actually felt the baby move for the first time the other day!

Snakes, hedgehogs, and haircuts!

2009-02-04T19:07:00.003-05:00

I cut Wesley's hair today, and it is looking really short!! Here are some pictures of the little cutie after his haircut. I wasn't too sure about it, but he didn't seem to mind. I've never cut his hair before, I usually take him to Cookie Cutters. I tried using scissors at first, but it was really uneven and choppy, so I had to use the clippers, so that's why it's so short (shorter than it's ever been before). Oh well, it will grow back right.

We also went to storytime at Barnes and Noble today and they had some people visiting from the zoo who brought in a hedgehog and a snake. Wesley got to touch the snake! He touched it very gently with one finger, just like they told him to. He was so excited! Wish I could have gotten a picture. I on the other hand, did not feel the need to touch the snake....something about growing up in a country where every snake you see is very poisonous and could be deadly.

Enjoy the pictures!

Sitting on the counter eating mac and cheese.

Taking pictures with his camera that he got for Christmas.

Snowed in...

2009-01-30T14:26:00.004-05:00

I haven't taken any pictures in awhile, so I don't have any new ones to post. Just thought I would let you know how we're doing. Wesley and I have spent the past couple of days at home just reading books, playing, doing puzzles, coloring, painting, playing in the bath (always a good time), and doing some cleaning and laundry too. It has actually been a fun couple of days. We have had a lot of snow. We probably could have ventured out in it, but since we didn't have a real need to, we figured it would be just as well to stay home. All the schools around here have been closed too. David of course, had to go to work. :( Too bad. Today we went out and had lunch with David at Cici's pizza buffet, which is becoming one of our new favorite things to do!

Meanwhile, my nesting instincts have really been kicking in lately, and it seems a little early for that. The thing is, there's not really that much to do to get ready for the baby. And what little there is to do, really doesn't need to be done until much closer to my due date. So last night I just got out all our baby clothes and looked at them. He he. I forgot how tiny a newborn is! Wesley looked through them with me, and I just couldn't believe that my "little" 35+ pound boy used to fit into those. I did separate out all of the clothes that could be used for either a boy or a girl, so it was a little productive. We are not going to find out what we're having. It was so fun that way last time with Wesley, so we're doing the same thing again. I have been feeling the baby move a lot the past couple weeks, which is so much fun! You still can't feel it from the outside yet. Maybe that's partly why I'm "nesting", because feeling movement makes it seem so much more real. I am almost 20 weeks along now. Time is going fast, but at the same time June feels far away. We're going to have another ultrasound at 21 weeks.

By the way, Wesley loves touching my belly right now. He rubs it very gently, puts his cheek on it, gives it kisses, and says "I love you baby." It's the cutest thing! We talk about the baby quite a bit. Sometimes he says "I'm a baby too." So we pretend he's a baby, and hold him like a baby. It's a funny game. It's nice that he is so verbal and can communicate his feelings with us. He is also becoming more adventurous and independent all the time. He enjoys playing in the nursery at church, going to storytime at the library, playing at open gym or the mall play area, and of course playing outside whenever he can (whenever Mommy feels like braving the cold that is). He likes to make friends and learn the other kids names, then he calls out their names while he's playing. He is such a joy and delight to be with!

Well that's all for now, just some random thoughts. I don't know if I've ever posted without pictures before.

All suited up

2009-01-22T18:07:00.003-05:00

Wesley had fun playing in the snow today. It seems to be starting to melt, so we wanted to make use of his snowsuit. It was a nice day to be outside, sunny and not too cold. I think he had a little trouble running around with all those clothes on. :) But he would have stayed out there all day if I had let him.

Some pictures

2009-01-21T12:08:00.003-05:00

Here are just a few random pictures from the past month or two. Here Wesley is playing with his tool bench and wearing my headband, which makes him an "Indian brave" just like in Peter pan. :)

Wesley loves dogs, and he became attached to Sam and Kate's dog Marty over Christmas. Wesley was sick over Christmas and he loved to just sit beside Marty and have his hand on him and say "my doggy." I think it was comforting to him since he wasn't feeling good. ...We might have to get a dog......someday.

Here he is in his pilgrim hat from storytime and my scarf (right around Thanksgiving).

Jumping!

2009-01-21T11:48:00.004-05:00

Some parents might not encourage jumping on the furniture, but at our house it's a fun time!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

2008-12-22T10:28:00.002-05:00

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

2008-12-01T21:51:00.002-05:00

Here are the rest of the pictures from our day of getting the tree and decorating it last week. Wesley would kind of just set the ornaments on the tree and try to get them to stay. When we were done he wanted to take them off and do it again! :) He's doing pretty good about not taking them off. There are a few non-breakable ones near the bottom that he's allowed to play with a little. He calls it "my Christmas tree." The other day I was in the kitchen and he was in the living room, being very quiet for awhile. Then I heard him say very excitedly, "I did it!" I looked in to see what he had done. He had been working very hard, and had figured out how to push the bottom to make the lights on the tree blink. They do all different patterns when you push the bottom. It was so cute to see how proud he was of himself!

Searching for the perfect tree

2008-11-25T22:02:00.003-05:00

I know it may seem a little early, but we put up our Christmas tree this past weekend! It was so much fun! We always get a live tree, and this year we found a very nice one at a really good price at Lowe's. It was a really freezing cold day, so we did not actually spend too long looking. We found one we liked and we got it. We might have been the very first ones to buy a tree, because they said it was the first day they were selling them and we only saw one other couple buying one at the same time as us. I love the whole process of getting a tree and decorating it, which always has to be done while listening to Christmas music and followed by drinking a cup of hot chocolate (out of a Christmas mug of course). :) So needless to say I really enjoyed the day. Now our whole downstairs smells like fresh pine, which is a great smell, especially when mixed with the smell of a Christmas candle.

Money saving tip: Have your husband cut your hair!

2008-11-25T21:52:00.002-05:00

This is actually the second time that David has given my hair a little trim. And I have to say I think he did a really good job! As my hair is growing out the longest layer seems to grow faster than the others and starts to look funny. So he just trimmed up the bottom for me, and here's how it turned out. He is an artist after all! I have always cut David's hair, but that's a lot easier because I just buzz it with the clippers. So we spent our Saturday morning cutting eachother's hair. Wesley helped sweep up the hair on the floor. Neither one of us would attempt to cut Wesley's hair, we leave that up to Cookie Cutters. :) It's amazing how they can cut the hair on a moving target.

Wesley is going to be a big brother!

2008-11-19T14:56:00.002-05:00

You might have to click on this picture to make it big enough to read Wesley's t-shirt, but it says: "I'm going to be a big brother!" It's true! :) We are expecting our second little one around June 22. We are thrilled about it, and Wesley seems to be excited too, atleast as much as he can understand. I'm about nine weeks along, and unfortunately I'm having a little more queesiness than I did with my last pregnancy, but hopefully we will be getting past that soon. We had our first ultrasound yesterday, and it was so much fun to see the baby's heartbeat, and even hear it! Our little one even wriggled around for us a little bit, which delighted David and I! Wesley got to be with us to see the ultrasound too. He is giong to be a great big brother.

A Tigger and Pooh Birthday

2008-11-09T17:11:00.003-05:00

Last Saturday we celebrated Wesley's second birthday by having a party at the park with a small group of family and friends. Wesley wore his Tigger costume, and David and I attempted to make a Winnie the Pooh cake. David actually did all of the baking, and it turned out delicious. I was so impressed. Then I attempted to frost the cake in the colors of Winnie the Pooh, but his red shirt turned out pink. You know you can never add enough food coloring to really make it red. And then we added M&M eyes and a nose. It definately was not professional, but it turned out cute. Last year I used the same cake mold for his first birthday, and used chocolate icing to make a brown teddy bear. My grandmother always used to make us "lamb cakes" for our birthdays when we were little. She had a cake mold shaped like a lamb. So I thought it would be fun to start a similar tradition with my own kids of making "bear cakes." :)

Wesley had so much fun playing with his friends, Emil who didn't feel like wearing his cowboy costume that day, Remy who was a cute little lion, and Ava who was an adorable butterfly. He also enjoyed opening all of his presents, although he didn't really get it that he was supposed to keep opening them. He just wanted to stop and play with whatever interesting thing he had just opened. And all week long ever since his party, his presents have been all over the living room and he's been playing with them every day. Thanks to everyone that came to celebrate with us for making it such a special day for Wesley!

We had perfect weather...lots of sunshine, and it even got hot. Thanks to David's dad for taking a lot of great pictures too. If you want to see all of the pictures from the day please visit Larry's Public Gallery at:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lwgooding

It was too windy for the candles to stay lit, so Wesley actually just pretended to blow out the candles. :)

Trick or Treat!

2008-11-05T15:05:00.003-05:00

Here's Wesley trick or treating on Halloween day. The Homestead park had it set up for little kids in the morning with a bunch of stops all over the park. It was really nice, and it was a beautiful day to be outside. Wesley loved wearing his Tigger costume!

Breakfast with Elmo!

2008-11-05T14:26:00.002-05:00

On Wesley's birthday we got to go have breakfast with Elmo at COSI!!! He had a lot of fun, and I think it made his birthday special. He enjoyed watching Elmo while he ate his yoghurt, then we had our turn to go sit beside him. They also have a Sesame Street exibit going on right now all about the body, so we went through that too. It was all very hands on and fun for Wesley. I can't believe my little baby is two years old!

Snapshots of our week

2008-10-20T00:34:00.003-04:00

Fun at COSI!

Pajama time, eating pop-tarts with Daddy:

Playing at the park:

Harvest Festival

2008-10-12T21:49:00.002-04:00

Saturday afternoon we went to a harvest festival at The Homestead park for a couple of hours. The weather was sunny and beautiful, it actually felt like summer. Wesley got to ride a pony named "Chocolate Chip". He was really excited about it!

Then Wesley got to pick out his very own pumpkin. He liked walking around and picking up all the pumpkins, they were just his size.

He even got to sit in a real firetruck and pretend he was driving. But of course he was too busy to look at me for a picture. :)

We all enjoyed our fun fall day!

Having fun at Emil's house.

2008-10-12T21:43:00.002-04:00

We went to Jeremy and Aurelia's for a cookout, and the boys had fun playing together. Emil was really good at driving his little car, but Wesley wore his seatbelt just in case. :)

Happy Birthday to me!

2008-10-12T21:14:00.004-04:00

My birthday was on Wednesday, and my dear David made it an extra special day...
The morning started early with a surprise breakfast in bed, which was a caramel machiatto from Starbucks (my favorite) and some yummy pastries. Mmmm, what a way to wake up!
Then a beautiful bouquet was delivered in the middle of the day, which made me feel very loved.
We went to the Cheesecake factory for dinner, which was delicious, and the service and atmosphere were great too. David did a great job keeping Wesley entertained while we waited for our food. Reading books a little, and playing with cars a lot, even building a cool ramp with the menu...

Me and my Oreo cheesecake. So good!As you can see Wesley enjoyed the cheesecake too. :)

Thank you David for my extra special birthday!!!

Day at the Zoo!

2008-10-02T17:16:00.005-04:00

We went to the zoo a couple of weeks ago with our friends Aurelia, Emil, and baby Remy, and we had some of the best viewings. All of the animals were awake and moving around, even the koala which sleeps 23 hours a day, and I don't think I've ever seen it awake before. There was a porcupine in the same area as the koala, and whenever I talk about the koala Wesley says "porcupine walking in the leaves." We got to see the kangaroos jumping around, which also are usually sleeping, and Wesley thought that was a lot of fun. We also went on a little boat ride, which we've never done before, and a train ride. You can see the pictures of all of us on the train. Our other exciting sighting, was that we saw Jack Hannah! He and his family sat right in front of us on the train. I got a pretty good picture of him, and it just looked like I was taking a picture of Aurelia. :) Aurelia and I were very excited about seeing him, but of course the boys didn't care. They loved seeing all of the animals, and had fun climbing on the animal sculptures too. Oh yes, and petting the goats "very gently" in the petting zoo area. I kept telling Wesley to pet them very gently, so now whenever we talk about it he has to add "very gently." And he did a very good job of being gentle with them, even though he kept trying to ride them. :) It was a very exciting and fun day at the zoo!

Newport Aquarium

2008-10-02T17:10:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago Wesley and I met "Ma" (my mom) at Newport Aquarium, in Cincinnati. I would highly recommend it. We all had a great time! It was really fun for Wesley, and it was also really interesting for adults. Wesley still talks about it, and everything that he saw there. He says he doesn't like the sharks, but he liked the turtles, and penguins. We even got to touch a horseshoe crab, although Wesley really just wanted to touch the water.

"Big boy underpants!"

2008-09-27T08:30:00.002-04:00

These pictures are from about a month ago, but that seems to be how my blogging is going...always a month behind. :) I had to share them anyway cause I think he looks so cute. He's been out of diapers ever since. What a fun new stage this is!

More Vacation Pictures!

2008-09-21T12:33:00.005-04:00

Family picture...I had to tickle Wesley to get him to smile.

Running away from the girls already. :)

He's flying!

He loved the waves.

In the pool...
This little floaty thing worked out really well for the pool since they didn't have a kiddie section.
Two cuddly cuties watching morning cartoons.

Sweet friends!

Beach Vacation!

2008-09-08T16:48:00.004-04:00

We're back! I bet you thought I'd never post anything again. Well after about 2 and a half months I thought it was time to go ahead and post some more pictures. I will use the excuse of being too busy enjoying the summer to have time to update the blog, but I know that is just an excuse. I won't try to catch up on the whole summer, I will just post a few pictures of our vacation to Topsail Island in North Carolina, that we took in the beginning of August. We rented a condo just steps from the beach with our dear friends Josh and Teresa, and their sweet little girl Rylie. Wesley and Rylie are just a couple months apart in age, and they had a great time together. Wesley would wake up in the morning or from a nap calling "Rylie!" and scramble out of bed to go find her. He also loved the beach from the very first day....just like his Mommy! We all had so much fun, and would have stayed a lot longer if we could have. More pictures to come...

Counting to 2

2008-06-24T15:55:00.003-04:00

Dinnertime fun!

2008-06-11T12:43:00.005-04:00

Here are a few videos of some of Wesley's antics at the dinner table, and after dinner. This gives you some idea of how we spend our evenings. :) We also do a lot of running around the house.

Doing a funny dance...yes he made this up himself, we really didn't teach it to him:

Trying to get Daddy to eat his peas...

"Where's Wesley?" It's hard to tell what he's saying but he's calling his own name...

It's official, he's a climber

2008-06-11T12:40:00.002-04:00

Wesley is now climbing everything, including climbing on the toilet in order to then climb onto the sink. Nothing is off limits now!

Our Anniversary

2008-06-11T12:28:00.002-04:00

On May 24th we celebrated our 5th anniversary! We celebrated by going to the Macaroni Grill (all 3 of us) and having a lovely dinner. It was delicious, the atmosphere was great, the service was great, and we got to color on the table!! Wesley had fun too and kept the other nearby guests entertained. It has been an amazing 5 years! ......five years and we've still got it! ;)

Race for the Cure!

2008-05-19T15:03:00.002-04:00

On Saturday David and I ran the Race for the Cure here in Columbus. It's a 5k (about 3.1 miles) road race to benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation (www.komencolumbus.org). I'm sure most of you have already heard of it.

We had so much fun!!! There were tons of people running, and they had a lot of live music along the way, which was really encouraging. David ran faster than me, so we just saw each other at the beginning and the end. :) I pushed Wesley in the jogging stroller, and I wasn't sure if I was going to run the whole way or walk some. But I ended up running the whole thing, and I felt really good! And Wesley did great too. He enjoyed watching all the people, and we even saw a few dogs running along the way. The best part was towards the end when I was getting a little tired, there was this big group of motorcyclists who had their engines revving as they cheered and gave high fives. I made my way over to the side just so that I could get some high fives, and it really gave me the extra push I needed to make it to the end.

All three of us had such a great time and enjoyed talking about it the rest of the day. We couldn't get any action shots during the race since we were both running, but here are a couple of David and Wesley before the race, and one of me and Wesley after the race.

Mother's Day

2008-05-16T14:20:00.001-04:00

I am so thankful to be Wesley's Mommy. He is my delight!

Why is climbing in the fridge so much fun?

2008-05-16T14:18:00.000-04:00

Congratulations!

2008-05-09T13:51:00.003-04:00

My sweet friend Aurelia had little baby Remy on Monday. Congratulations Jeremy and Aurelia!! We are so happy for you guys. Here's Aurelia looking cute as ever, and the second one is me holding Remy. He is adorable!

He likes corn on the cobb

2008-05-08T17:20:00.000-04:00

Riding with PaPa on the tractor

2008-05-08T17:15:00.001-04:00

Flowers!

2008-05-08T17:09:00.003-04:00

I love my flowers! Last year was my first time planting perennials, and I'm so excited that they came back this year! (all except for two) We just have a small, very simple flower bed here at our apartment, but I'm making the most of it. I'm going to plant a couple more soon. Does anyone know what the big one in the middle is with the pink flowers? I can't remember.

Carter Caves Weekend

2008-04-29T13:17:00.005-04:00

We went to Carter Caves State Park in Kentucky with David's parents this past weekend. We stayed in a cabin and did some hiking, and playing, and just relaxing and enjoying nature. It was beautiful, and we had a great time! Wesley loved it too! There was a little playground right by our cabin so he played there quite a bit, and he seemed to like riding around in the backpack carrier and looking at everything. He even went on a little horseback ride with me sitting on the horse with him. That was fun. He got so tired on the last day that he fell asleep while we were hiking (on his daddy's back). These are just a few of the many wonderful pictures that Larry (David's dad) took during our weekend. For more great pictures visit http://picasaweb.google.com/lwgooding
That's Larry's public gallery. Thanks Pop and Nana for a great weekend!

Here's the man behind the camera...(Joy took this one with her camera)

Cool man

2008-04-29T13:10:00.000-04:00

Playing at the Park

2008-04-23T16:08:00.002-04:00

We went to the park today with our friends Aurelia and Emil. Emil is 2, and he and Wesley had a fun time playing together. It is so neat to see how much they enjoy each other now that they are a little bit older. They loved playing in the sand, and they've started holding hands when we're walking. So cute! It was another beautiful day and we all loved being outside. Aurelia and I got to enjoy talking and watching the boys play. They really were having a lot of fun, we just couldn't get them to smile for pictures.

Locks of Love

2008-04-23T15:50:00.003-04:00

Here are some before and after pictures of my fun fresh new look for the summer...although it will never look like this again, because this is right after the hairdresser styled it. Now it's more of a wild and messy look, that is very low-maintenance and fun! I donated all of my 10 inches to Locks of Love, which I'm sure you've heard of, but it's an organization that makes wigs for kids with hair loss. I was actually surprised that I had just barely 10 inches, which is the minimum length for donating. The place I went to get it cut (Kenneth's Academy on Sawmill) actually gives you a free haircut when you are donating it, which was a nice bonus! I'm very happy with my new cut, and I think it will be a nice change for the summer.

Just a few pictures

2008-04-23T14:56:00.005-04:00

Well it has now been over a month since Wesley's first haircut, and I guess we have not been taking very many pictures! And we certainly have not been posting the few that we have taken. We have really been enjoying the warm weather and getting outside a lot! Wesley is definately an outdoors guy, and cries everytime we have to go back inside. He is maneuvering playground equipment pretty well these days, although we still have to stay close. It's amazing to see how quickly he learns and progresses to being able to do more and more every day. He enjoys going down slides, running across bridges, going up and down stairs, swinging, and playing in the dirt, sand, rocks, gravel, twigs or whatever he can get his hands on. He also really loves playing with other little kids at the park, and he sometimes follows them around and does whatever they do, it's so cute. :) He's talking a lot too, and his ever increasing vocabulary is getting more and more understandable. A few of his favorite words lately are "monkey", "Weee" when swinging or sliding, "Daddy", "happy", "walk" which he says when he wants to go outside, and "puppy" which he says whenever he sees a dog. He does say "Mommy" sometimes but most of the time it's just "Mom". He still enjoys bath time and reading books just as much as ever. So that's a brief little update on Wesley. These are just a few pictures from the past month or so, like I said we really haven't been taking very many pictures.

First Haircut!

2008-03-16T23:25:00.003-04:00

Wesley got his first haircut on Friday! He did such a great job, we were so proud of him. David went with me and we took him to Cookie Cutters. Which was great, he got to sit in an airplane while he got his hair cut, and the people were so nice. They gave us a cute certificate for his first haircut with a picture of him and a lock of his hair. I would definately recommend it! Here he is riding a horse after he was done. (He smiled a lot better for the picture the stylist took of him) :)

Before... During...

Zzzzz......

2008-03-16T23:23:00.001-04:00

The other day Wesley fell fast asleep in his high chair while he was eating lunch. :) It was so cute.

Let it Snow!

2008-03-15T00:35:00.005-04:00

Last weekend we got a LOT of snow! It wasn't technically a blizzard because the winds weren't quite blowing hard enough, but there was definately enough snow, and it felt pretty "blizzardy". We just couldn't believe how deep it was! Neither Dave nor I have ever seen this much snow so it was really fun. These pictures were all taken on Saturday when it was still coming down. We went outside and played with Geoff and Mindy. What fun!

If You're Happy And You Know It!

2008-03-14T16:24:00.003-04:00

Winter wonderland!!

2008-03-07T13:59:00.003-05:00

This picture is from a few weeks ago, one night around bedtime, but it was so beautiful we just had to go outside and play in the snow. Now I'm sitting here looking out the window at another white winter wonderland! Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to spring, but the snow is beautiful and I want to enjoy it since it won't be winter much longer.

David's Birthday! (part 4: The Grand Finale!)

2008-02-28T16:34:00.003-05:00

I'm not really great at this whole blogging thing, so be sure that you scroll down and start with "David's Birthday (part 1)" first, then work your way up to see everything in chronological order.
We ended the evening with some yummy chocolate cake and strawberry ice-cream (David's favorite). Happy Birthday David!!!
Look at that glowing fire (we got all 29 candles on there).

And this is what we call "water play" with Uncle Geoff....Wesley had had a long day, and he was getting a little goofy.

David's Birthday! (part 3)

2008-02-28T16:13:00.004-05:00

After dinner we went to Dave and Busters to play games, and the fun continued! Everyone got in on the game playing, even Wesley (he's taking after his Daddy already).

David's Birthday! (part 2)

2008-02-28T15:51:00.003-05:00

Self portrait

Presents!

Uno's Chicago Grill for dinner with the fam....that's one of our favorite places! It was delicious as always, and David got a free dessert for his birthday. :)
Dad and David
David and Wesley

Dad and Mom (Shmidt)
Geoff and Mindy
Emily and Wesley
Me and the Birthday Boy!
Wesley resting his sleepy head.

David's Birthday! (part 1)

2008-02-28T15:44:00.004-05:00

David's birthday was on Saturday, and we had a great day! It all started with some cinnamon rolls and tea.

What??

2008-02-12T18:09:00.000-05:00

A Budding Artist

2008-02-12T18:01:00.000-05:00

We did fingerpainting for the first time the other day. I think Wesley enjoyed it. He even used his feet a little. And of course he had to taste it (don't worry it's non-toxic...not that I would recommend it as a healthy snack). We headed straight for the bathtub afterwards!

Goldfish anyone?

2008-02-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

I Love My Daddy!

2008-02-12T17:39:00.000-05:00

Two cuties looking comfy!

Daddy let's me dance on the table!

Fashion statement

2008-02-12T17:33:00.000-05:00

Just felt like wearing his snowboots inside (with his diaper). He stomped around like this for awhile and didn't want to take them off. :)

Little cowboy

2008-02-12T17:28:00.000-05:00

Trying on Papa's hat.

COSI

2008-01-28T15:59:00.000-05:00

David, Wesley and I all went to COSI on Saturday. We've been wanting to go for awhile and finally made it. It was great! We checked out the space exibit, then headed straight up to the kids area. They have a really cool play area just for kindergardners and younger that was designed by early childhood development experts--so it's a lot of fun, plus it's educational. The cool thing is just that it's a place where he can run around and touch everything, which is what he is all about at this age. :) Also when it's so cold like this it's great to have an indoor place to play. "Pop" and "Nana" Gooding gave us a family membership to COSI for Wesley's birthday, and I have a feeling we are going to be getting a lot of use out of it. They had a little area with puppets which he really liked, especially when Daddy did cool voices (I'm sure you can imagine). And they had a water area, where they provided raincoats and he sat at this little table to play in the water. Of course there was much more, but these are the main things that we got pictures of. A fun time was had by all, then we went home for some lunch and a nap. :)

Sledding

2008-01-28T15:46:00.000-05:00

Wesley and I got to go play in the snow with PaPa out at "PaPa" and "Ma" Shmidt's last week. We didn't have any hills, but Wesley has his very own little sled that we pulled him around in. It has a back for him to lean against and a little belt so he won't fall out. It is the perfect size for him. We have had it sitting on our kitchen floor for awhile and he will go over and sit in it and want us to pull him around. :) So it was fun to actually get to use it in the snow. It was a pretty cold day, but Wesley had fun, and it was also a good work out for me and PaPa! I tried to get him to pull me around, but that didn't work too well. :) Wesley stayed warm and looked very "poofy" in his little snowsuit.

Wild Man!

2008-01-19T19:46:00.000-05:00

Here's Wesley after his morning shower

Sunny Day!!

2008-01-18T21:40:00.000-05:00

So it's only been over a month since my last post...I bet you were beginning to wonder if I was ever going to add new pictures. :) Well, we had a wonderful Christmas season, and enjoyed spending time with all of our family, that is really the best part. I really love Christmas, and it never seems to last long enough. We enjoyed all of our travelling, and we enjoyed relaxing at home too. We even got to enjoy some snow--especially at New Years when we were in Michigan, it was beautiful.

Although we really liked our tree, we decided not to leave it up till February this year (like we have been known to do). So we got all of our decorations put away and the hustle and bustle of Christmas was fading away, when poor Wesley came down with a little stomach "bug" (to put it nicely)--just to keep things interesting. And of course to be fair we had to share it, so we've now passed it around to the whole family, including my sweet mom who had come to help take care of Wesley when I was taking my turn being sick. Thankfully, now about a week after the whole thing started, I think we are all doing well. We're atleast on our way back to being fully healthy if not already there.

Today was a gorgeous sunny day and I just had to take advantage of it, even though it was still very cold. That's what the pictures are from--today. Wesley and I bundled up and headed out. We went for a nice walk to a park nearby, and then played at the playground for a good little while, then walked back (well he rode in the stroller). He had such a fun time playing at the park! I know that the fresh air and sunshine was really good for both of us, and we loved it!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and that you are having a Happy New Year!

Peekaboo!

2007-12-12T13:03:00.000-05:00

Dancing and typing with Daddy

2007-12-12T12:53:00.000-05:00

Around the House

2007-12-12T12:49:00.000-05:00

Playing at the mall

2007-12-12T12:42:00.000-05:00

Our good friends Tripp, Heather and baby Drew were visiting this weekend and we went into the craziness at the mall! The boys had fun playing in the play area, although we had to protect them from getting clobbered by the big kids. :)