just a preview

a terrible, no good, very bad day

i feel alexander (that was his name, right)’s pain. our day started off not too bad, just a little early for my preference… we went and had pictures taken of noah and his bestest cousin, roxie, in their christmas jammies! they turned out really cute, which is no surprise since they are some of the best looking kids i’ve seen (and i’m not biased!)!  we have a cd of the pictures, or cece has one, at least…so maybe we can share some of the pictures! after we got home from that, though, something crazy overtook my sweet little boy and oh my goodness! he has screamed his head off, and maybe an arm and a leg, too, most of the afternoon. he has slept maybe an hour and a half today, which is part of the problem…and his teeth are just on the brink of popping through. so i now know that my kid is going to be one of those kids who has major issues with teeth coming in, and likely with other painful things as well (which i know he certainly must get from me). i just hope i will have the patience i need to help him through such  times. i almost didn’t make it today. at one point, as tears were streaming down my face, he looked up at me and smiled…then laughed a little, and then harder… i’m not sure what was so funny about my misery, but his giggling made me laugh, which was a welcomed change. after two hours of struggle, i finally got him down for a nap, which ended up on lasting 45 minutes…. not acceptable, i told him..but he didn’t listen. anyway, here’s to a better day tomorrow!

on a different note, i was thinking today about christmas words. i have been working, at least mentally, on  some christmas projects that have a lot to do with words. something about being at rmcs has made me appreciate words a little more…not always having to have them in a sentence, introduced eloquently or followed by a profound thought. i’m wondering right now why we only save certain words for the christmas season. words like: wonder, joy, peace….hmmmm…

a few pictures to end with:

on his 6th month birthday:giving the good looking boy in the mirror kisses:playing with his good buddy, jack:kisses for his little buddy, eli:dancing with daddy:i didn’t even pose him with the basket, seriously:

Make new friends…

But keep the old, one is silver and the other’s gold!

I can still hear the tune to this old girl scout song… And I think there’s probably a truth behind this catchy little song. Yesterday was a day of friends. I had some college friends over for the afternoon with their little ones. It’s still hard for me to believe that we all have kids, we certainly cannot be that old! I got just a few pictures, but I still haven’t found the camera cord in the move-hopefully soon. I was a little bummed that we weren’t able to get a picture of all the kiddos together, but maybe when they are a wee bit older.

Then yesterday evening I went to an advent calendar making party with some gals from church. I had pretty much decided not to go, since I don’t really know anyone very well, but then one of the ladies called and asked if I wanted to ride with her..so, I decided to go and I’m really glad I did. It was nice chatting with other mommies, though we tried not to talk about our kids the whole time. One of the girls was saying she heard a speaker recently talk about how it might not be a good thing if all parents talk about is being a mom. He asked his mom years ago what she and her friends talked about when they got together and she said, “oh, you know, politics, sports, news, we gossip…” he then asked, “don’t you talk about us kids??” to which she replied, “No! We talk about interesting things!” so that sounds a bit harsh, but his point was that kids need to know that a) their parents are interesting and b) the world does not actually revolve around them. Not bad thoughts.. But I don’t know what else to talk about these days… I mean where’s the time to read the news, keep up with politics, etc?! Anyway, i didn’t finish my advent calendar last night, but got a great start. I’m super excited about celebrating the Advent season this year! I will be learning as I go, but am so glad to be learning now so that when noah’s older-it will be engrained and more natural! I’ll share as I go more about this…

I have been realizing over the past few days, as I’ve been around lots of other mommies how different parenting ideas can be. I hope that I will be quick to learn and slow to judge as people do things differently than I! It’s easy to slip into thinking my way is right, but that’s probably not always going to be the case..

I had my first ever parent-teacher meeting and I was beyond nervous about it! I think experiences like these are probably good for me, even though I don’t plan to be a teacher as a career. There’s something about being put into uncomfortable situations that forces growth, of sorts. So, for that, I am thankful. It actually went rather well, I think, and I feel much more confident for next time.

highlight of the weekend

while we were visiting with my dad and bette yesterday, my dad told noah that he should put his pants on so he could go on the four-wheeler (which is so not an approved activity, but that’s another blog post for another day…). i kind of chuckled because, of course, noah had no idea what my dad was saying and couldn’t have put his pants on even if he wanted to…but then ryan cut in and said, “i have my pants on!” i’m pretty sure i had tears i laughed so hard…

And

I forgot to mention the two top finds yesterday at the village! CeCe got the perfect Christmas jammies for Roxie and Noah! They are exactly what I had in mind! We are going to do pictures if the two of them and they are going to be so adorable! Anndddd during Noah’s crazy crying fit, we found another lovey!! I haven’t found another anywhere that’s like his and was so excited to see these! Ive been wanting another so we can wash his more often… It gets dirty! Anyway, we opted for a giraffe because it was too cute… And Noah loved it! He went to sleep shortly after… Yea!

is it too early?

i am officially ready for christmas! i bought the first gift of the year, got all of the wrapping necessities (thanks mom!), and…went to christmas village today! it was my first time and oh. my. i want to go back tomorrow. and the next day. and the next day… such fun stuff! i found just a few fun things to buy and loads of inspiration! in fact, i came home and made some pants for noah…and a matching shirt! i have been wanting to make him some pants since he was born and it took me all this time to accomplish it! now the fun begins! !

on another note, i’m pretty sure noah is either going to be a terrible teether or he’s sick. or an alien has taken over his body. he has been the fussiest little boy the past few days, which has made being a mommy not so fun! especially when i was nursing him in a stall at the bathroom (because i didn’t see the huge special “new moms” area until after the fact), beside someone who was making a major stinky-trying to cover my nose and his! and do you know that happened not once but twice today?!? yuck! i, in my crazy excitement about going to christmas village, accidently forgot to grab noah’s paci from his crib…BIG mistake. let me just say that tomorrow i will be making a trip to target or walmart to buy like 20 packs of pacis, then i will plant them everywhere imaginable and pass them out to all my friends-so that this experience will never. ever. happen. again.  

tomorrow holds lots of fun for us: ryan is taking two job-related tests. noah and i are headed to an alumni breakfast at the ole alma mater (?), then racing back home to meet my dad who is graciously going to help us with the car, then racing back across town to go to a noontime party at a friend’s…then racing home for a NAP! speaking of, i think i might try to catch one now…

dilemma

being a grown-up means having to face all sorts of dilemmas every day, every where. paper or plastic? in other words, do you want something you can carry without fear of the bottom bursting open and your eggs breaking all over the ground or do you want something that’s good for the environment??? rent or buy? mommy milk or formula? tall or venti? black or white? all of these questions with questionable answers…not necessarily a solid right or wrong answer, mostly because it’s all about personal preference. what’s best for you is the question at the heart of the matter. and that is a hard question. right now, the dilemma i’m facing front and center: scott or angelsoft?? do you get the seemingly cheaper, soft on the tush toilet paper or the scratchy, almost like you are wiping with piece of notebook paper, really-cheaper-in-the-long-run t.p.???

all the rage

ever since dunkin’ donuts marketed their coffee for grocery stores, i have heard nothing but praise. on the television, on facebook, and in person-all everyone has to say is good, good, good! so, when i saw it on sale at publix the other day, i decided to see for myself. and, oh. my. goodness. it is all that!! yum!

a whirlwind

it seems like things have been super busy here lately. i think most of the reason for that has to do with our move. we are loving our new place, but settling in is happening slowly. it’s not as easy to unpack and get everything organized as i thought it would be, thanks to a little guy named noah. sometimes i long for the day when he doesn’t require so much constant attention, but then i think i will probably be really sad when that day comes-so i stop longing for it and try to enjoy the place we are in right now. i did have a nice chat with my sweet sister, ruthie, a few weeks ago. she is taking a marriage and family class at auburn and learned that it is not possible to spoil a baby (from ages 0-4). i repeat, it is not possible to spoil a baby. so for all of you out there who think my little noah is spoiled (*cough cough all you grandparents cough*), guess again!  

i finally got back to running today. it has been weeks, but there just hasn’t been time. we live really close to a gorgeous running trail now, so there’s no excuse for not doing it. we only did a mile this morning, and my lungs were burning terribly! even so, i enjoyed running in the cooler weather. it’s a nice feeling not to be sweating my guts out!! i was quite pleased that i was able to maintain my pace from before… not that i could have maintained it for a few more miles, but i’m going to slowly work my way back in to things. ryan really is jonesing to run a marathon… but not me! a half marathon is going to push me to my very limits, i’m afraid. i think it would take me a few days to run a whole marathon! lol

i’m pretty sure noah might be teething. he has been super fussy recently, and last night was a nightmare. he woke up 3 or 4 times in the night screaming his head off.. to make matters worse, we couldn’t find his favorite paci or the tylenol, so there was little relief for anyone! he seems better this morning, so far…but i wouldn’t be surprised if a little toothie pops out some day soon. his gums look ready to burst! 

i made it through the MAT over the weekend, just barely. my morning was absolutely crazy trying to get down to montevallo to take the test. when i got there, i was all frazzled and ended up clanging my umbrella on the ground right when i walked in, which got everyone’s attention. then, when i tried to get a pencil off the front table to use for the test, i accidently flicked it out of the rubberband and across the front of the room-as if everyone wasn’t already staring enough at me… i faked like i did that on purpose, and went and sat in the desk right by where it landed (front and center, of course!).  then, i took my jacket off, looked down, and realized that my skirt was turned sideways, so one of the back pockets was in front and the button and zipper were on the side. so much for making a good impression! oh well, i feel okay about the test-not great, but not terrible either. there were definitely some questions that i had no clue about, but i knew a good bit of them. two-three weeks before i get my score, so i’m nervously awaiting that. it is good, though, to have the test behind me! 

we did all dress up for halloween the fall festival. we borrowed some stuff from a friend, noah was a football and ryan and i were football players! we got lots of pictures, but of course i have no idea where the camera cord is to upload them! :/ hopefully i’ll find it soon so i can share some of those!  

 

i love technology

ever since attending a workshop last year at denver seminary about the effect of technology on children and youth, i have been really anti-anything-techie for noah. i have been trying to avoid letting him watch any kind of screen for more than 30 seconds because of the knowledge i gained on what it does to his brain. it’s been quite a battle because these days even infant toys flash, talk, light up, sing, and makes all kind of noise-in english and spanish! i’m not knocking all of those toys, some of them are quite educational, i imagine. but, i will say one thing that we avoid at all costs is the tv…more specifically, because of an article ryan read many moons ago, baby einstein. and we came across another quite interesting article last night: http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/parenting/the-great-baby-einstein-scam-531147/ pretty fascinating stuff! surely there are better things for our kids…