Winter Hats

I love Noah in all his cute little winter hats. So many of his shirts came with little hats so he has LOTS. 

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Wordless Wednesday: All Bundled Up

Taken at Miracle League on the day before Hurricane Sandy hit when it was SUPER windy!

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Hair Cut Surprise

On Sunday, Noah woke up asking for a hair cut. This was a surprise as he typically loathes haircuts. Usually haircuts for Noah require one of us holding him while his hair is cut and he fusses the entire time, won't be still, and gets hostile. So for him to be asking for us to take him to get his hair cut was shocking.

His hair was getting longer and shaggy but because of his hair cut behavior we try and put them off for as long as possible. I asked him if his was starting to bother him and he said yes. So although it was my birthday and I really didn't want to deal with Noah's behavior during a hair cut, we decided to go ahead and take him.

Shockingly Noah was AMAZING during his hair cut.  He did not have to sit in my lap; he sat there in the chair and did not fuss, rip the cape off, etc. It was awesome.

When he was done, I clapped and said good job. He then wanted the lady who cut his hair to clap for him and then wanted everyone else there to clap for him. So silly yet adorable all at the same time!

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Crazy Clemson Socks

On a recent shopping trip, my Mom and I found Noah some crazzzzyy Clemson socks! We knew they'd perfect for Noah to wear underneath his braces. He wore them for the first time today and looked adorable in them! (But come on, when does he NOT look adorable!)

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Working on the Computer

At the Open House last week at Noah's school, he had the opportunity to try out the new big screens. He's so funny - you can NOT say he is "playing on the computer." If you use the word playing, you are in big trouble! You must say he is "working on the computer" just like Granddaddy.

Working, playing; whatever you call it, I was proud watching him drag the shapes where they needed to go.

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Raiding the Fridge

Noah was playing in his room the other day and got rather quiet so I went to look for him and found this.....

 Raiding the fridge just like a typical teen boy!

Linked to Special Exposure Wednesday at  5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

 Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Moms

Noah's New AFOs

Back before Christmas, Noah was fitted for new AFOs. (AFO stands for ankle foot orthosis and is basically a brace that goes on over the socks and supports the ankle and foot.) Children can get decorative AFOs that have a pattern (clouds with butterflies, camouflage, etc) on them or you can get AFOs with "tattoos" that have an image on the back of the AFO. 

Noah got to choose the design for his AFOs and of course his eyes went straight to the Clemson designs. He couldn't choose between the orange tiger paw or the tiger so he ended up with this........

One of each! 

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

5 Minutes for Moms

Cutie in the Orange Hoodie

My sweet boy in his favorite hoodie sporting the angel choir boy pose. 

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

5 Minutes for Moms

Looking out the Window

I love how every morning my sweet boy heads to the window when it's too cold to go on the front porch to watch for the school bus.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

5 Minutes for Moms

Loyal Fan

Noah asked for a Clemson jersey and hat for Christmas and as you can see Santa obliged. He was all decked out for the Orange Bowl and although they lost, Noah doesn't care. He's a loyal fan whether they win or not. 

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

5 Minutes for Moms

Christmas Eve Photos - Finally!

In light of everything that happened (you know, the grand mal on the scariest night ever and the subsequent seizures) I am just now getting some Christmas pictures posted. To be completely honest, I didn't take a whole lot of pictures on Christmas Day. Noah was glued to me most of the day so taking pics was difficult and he looked pitiful (pale, dark circles under eyes) so I didn't do a lot of snapping.

He was in a GREAT mood on Christmas Eve though and I got some good photos I wanted to share.

My parents, my brother, J, Noah, and me on Christmas on Eve

Noah and his pup 

Cutest Little Elf

Noah and Paisley in their Christmas jammies and ready for Santa.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and

5 Minutes for Moms

Noah and the Santa Hat

Noah's new found love of hats that started over the summer and carried on through baseball has continued into Christmas. He's constantly talking about Santa's hat and wearing his own Santa hat. He even wore it when we were watching Christmas movies.

He does look pretty cute in it, doesn't he?!?

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Emailing Santa

Recently I helped Noah email Santa. We used this website to send his letter to Santa. It was easy to use and he even got a letter back from Santa right away!

For himself he asked Santa for more art supplies, lots and lots of paper, some DVDs, and a Clemson jersey like Daddy's. He also asked for a Clemson shirt, doggie treats, and doggie toy for his pup Paisley.

The website gave him a couple of different choices of how to tell Santa what his behavior has been. I suggested choosing the "angel with a crooked halo" but Noah insisted on choosing the "sweet angel a top the tree." Too bad there wasn't an "angel choir boy" option!

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Noah's Orange Tree

On Friday, we put up Noah's orange Clemson tree. He is so excited to have it back in his room again this year!

Once again all of the ornaments are sports themed, Clemson themed, or orange and purple.

I love that he loves it.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

All Bundled Up

My Mom makes fleece scarves and recently Noah told her he wanted one so of course she was more than happy to make him a Clemson scarf. Noah's never been a scarf wearer in the past so I really thought he wouldn't keep it on but I guess I should have learned my lesson after all the hat wearing he has done this year.

Last week, one morning it was finally cold enough to break out the scarf. He kept it on and seemed to like it. It probably doesn't hurt that it's orange and purple! 

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Turn the Lights Off, Mom!

Every morning after Noah is dressed and in his wheelchair, we head to the living room to wait on the school bus. I purposely leave on the lights in my bedroom, the hallway, and Noah's room. Once I start to walk into the living room, Noah who is noticing I have left the lights on (and has recently learned about conserving energy) will say "Momma!" in this fussing like tone and then go turn the lights off.

Yes, I could just turn the lights off myself but this A. gives him something to do that kills a few minutes of time instead of just sitting there waiting on the bus, B. gives him a small task in which I can say "Good job, Noahie!" and C. it's just cute! There was a time he couldn't do this and it's nice to seem him have a bit of pride and  independence.

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Noah's 15 Year Old Portraits

About 6 or 7 months ago, I discovered a graffiti wall that local artists painted not very far from our house. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to do Noah's 15 year old portraits there. There are many things about Noah that are not teenager-ish and to me, a graffiti wall seems very teen-ish and I wanted very teen-ish pictures.

Taking pictures of Noah is not always an easy thing to do. He is often uncooperative and doesn't really want to smile. I was hoping he would be in a good mood when we went to take them and luckily he was! They came out better than I thought they would and most of them scream 15 to me!

Enough talking, you want to see the pictures, don't you!?! It was hard to narrow it down but these are a few of my favorites.

Screams teenager, doesn't it?

Sporting the "Angel Choir Boy" pose 

Yep, I brought a can of spray paint to use as a prop. Love the mischievous look on his face!

Pull back shot
(Don't worry folks, he is perfectly safe. It's called the magic of Photoshop.)

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and
5 Minutes for Moms

Mr. Cool

Mr. Cool sporting his Daddy's shades and hat.
(Love his little pink from too much sun nose!)

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

 and 

5 Minutes for Moms

Matching Jerseys

On Saturdays (during football season) you can always find my guys in their matching Clemson jerseys. 

So cute!

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

and 5 Minutes for Moms

Sleeping Angel Choir Boy

If you have been reading this blog for long, you know that Noah has a "pose" that he does that my Mom and I have nicknamed the "angel choir boy." (See post 1 and post 2.) 

Recently my BFF and family came to visit and spent the night. Noah was sleeping in our bed and I went in our room to talk to J and found Noah sleeping in the angel choir boy pose. Of course I had to run get my camera and snap a few shots. (And no, it didn't wake him up either!)

Linked to 5 Minutes for Special Needs

and 5 Minutes for Moms