Noah's First Thanksgiving.

In Pictures. Because I'm soooo behind. Plus. Who wants to read three posts in a day! :)

The only full family picture we took over the weekend! Thanks Jess and Ryan for these pictures!

We were able to spend time with the Sunnenbergs! We love you guys! So glad we were able to catch up! Can't wait to see you this Spring!

Noah meeting Audrey Claire.

Hanging out with Mimi and Grandpa Bud

I love these two more than words could say.

More time with the Sunnenberg Fam.

Noah was able to get some cuddles with both of them.

Playing with Audrey Claire.

Playing at Mimi and Grandpa Bud's!

It was a great weekend! We're excited to go back to Springfield hopefully in January or February.

My least favorite part of being a parent.

Our little man being sick.

Least favorite part.

EVER.

And can I just say...for the record...that I may have been a little naive- and I really in my head had the thought that Noah would never get sick while I was nursing him. That he would have like a super star immune system and never be at risk for sickness. Kid you not when he had his first ear infection last month...I seriously was shocked.

I'm a nurse.

I mean seriously. I should know better. :)

Anyways.

In the last two weeks Noah has had croup and then apparently that progressed itself right on into viral pneumonia. Boo.

Sweet little Noah kinda has no idea that he is even sick. He just goes around smiling and giggling at everyone like it's nothing. He's a little clingy, a little more fussy, and our great nights of sleep have been sadly interrupted..but all those things will pass.

However, taking that sweet child to the ER and then to an urgent care...and the xrays (oh my goodness children's xrays are just mean) well I've definitely learned that I don't like it, but that I sure am thankful for pediatricians, and ER doctors, and urgent care doctors who help our sicky little man get better.

Funny story..the night we went to the ER...we woke up at like 4:30am to Noah with stridor. Stridor. WHOA! If you don't know what that is...don't you worry..you'll probably be glad you don't because you won't make up crazy scenarios in your brain. Like I did..at 4:30am. I heard Noah on the monitor and seriously I FLEW out of bed. I grabbed Noah, went back to our bedroom, shook Brad to wake him up, and grabbed my phone to call the doctor. I clearly wasn't in my right mind because I panicked when I couldn't remember the number...which is saved in my phone.

I did figure it out and after I got off the phone with the doctor...I was standing there in our bedroom, with Brad, and I say "I need to call mom" You should have seen Brad's face. 4:30 am and that was my first thought after I got off the phone with the doctor. But I was convinced. So I called Mom and Dad's house and barely said anything that I can remember except I said "Mom listen to Noah what do I do?" She quickly told me to get him to the ER. (Seriously..I had just told Brad we needed to go to the ER, and then the doctor had confirmed it when I called, but I NEEDED Mom's confirmation.)

Timeout: Can I just say that stridor...when heard in the hospital setting that I work in..we get a little worked up about it. Like when you take a breathing tube out of someone that's the first thing you listen for...and if patients have it then they are at risk for being put back on the ventilator. So you have to know that at this point in the night, when it's my child and I'm hearing this noise...all I can think is HIS AIRWAY IS CLOSING!!! Rationally I can look at this now and laugh...but to be fair...he sounded BAD. Bad enough for Mom to tell me to take him to the ER.

Ok back to the story. It was cold that night. Not freezing obviously..but cold and damp for Texas. So by the time we got to the hospital...Noah no longer had stridor at all. In fact...he just smiled at the triage nurse- and at this point I'm thinking "Thank goodness they don't know I'm a nurse or I'll look really dumb." The guy even said...I'm not hearing any stridor now, and Noah's oxygen percentage was like 99%. I explained that I realized he looked fine now..but he had sounded BAD at home. Of course then the registration lady came in to verify our insurance and asked what my position was at the Heart Hospital- and when I said nurse even clarified that I was an RN in front of the triage nurse. He definitely gave me a look then.
Oh my goodness. I felt so silly. But oh well..Noah is safe, we were right he had croup, and he got treated right away.

P.S. He didn't have to get a breathing tube. Obviously.

10 Months

So 10 months have come and gone..and our sweet little man just keeps on getting bigger. He is such a joy to watch grow! Here's what he's doing this month. {I realize these can be boring..but I am EXTREMELY poor at documenting on time in his book so this way I have it somewhere to go back and look at! :) }

Pulls up to standing on EVERYTHING. Walks behind his little dinosaur, and is getting more efficient at this. When he lets go though, he topples. He is getting more graceful as he falls.
Boy has bruises all over! I fear people think I don't take care of my kiddo. But he is FEARLESS. So he runs full force into everything...usually with his little noggin.
Giggles. He loves to giggle.
Can see himself better in the mirror we have in the back seat of our car. While driving I sometimes hear him giggling and look back to see him smiling at himself.
Had his first Thanksgiving! We were able to go to Springfield to spend Thanksgiving with Mimi and Grandpa Bud. He had such a great time! He also was able to meet sweet miss Audrey Claire! (Who is just BEAUTIFUL)
Is a bit of a brute. Will climb over anything to get where he thinks he needs to be. This is cute..except when he does this to other babies/children.
Continues to say dada.
Claps his hands when I ask him to clap his hands.
He got his first two teeth this month! He did pretty well overall...but there were some clingy days (but this mama kinda LOVED that!)
Occasionally says Na-na or a very faint ma-ma when I come get him after naps or when he is upset. Yet to hear a real mama. But he smiles when someone tries to get him to say it, so I know he knows who I am. Stubborn boy.
Continues to be a pretty mellow fellow.
HOWEVER. We have recently decided that when we don't like something..it's ok to yell. That's a change...but we're learning.
LOVES to eat peas as a finger food. I heat a few frozen peas up for lunch or dinner often while I make the rest of whatever he is eating. He really likes them.
Has slightly lost interest in pureed foods. I'm thankful I only made the one batch because I think it all would have gone bad. We are moving on to table foods. This makes me kinda sad..and yet I think it's so adorable watching him learn what he likes.
Likes to let Mama and Daddy read to him now.
LOVES bath time. Now lays on his belly and splashes.
Seems to recognize more and more people that he is close to. In the nursery at church Auntie Kat was in his room..and he climbed his way right on over to her lab while she was holding another baby so she would hold him too. Apparently he is a little attached to Auntie Kat. :)
Continues to love his friends.
We are finally on a schedule. Not a strict has to be down by this time or anything kind of schedule, but we have a routine and it's wonderful. He's napping twice a day and finally seems to be resting well during those times. (Although as I type this we JUST got home from Christmas and poor little man did not have ANY normalcy of sleep because we just let him party all the time while we were home! I think he liked it!)
Goes to be around 7:30 every night.
Prior to leaving for Christmas he was sleeping until about 6:30. However sprinkle in a few sicky nights (later post) and all of a sudden we have a little one who is waking in the middle of the night, and then around 5-6 for the day. Excited for our little man to be healthy again!
I think I forgot to mention that our trip to Springfield was his first real road trip..he did GREAT!
Had his first babysitter that wasn't friend/family. He did great. She was wonderful and I felt safe the whole time with her having him..but I'll tel you I sure am ready to get home to him whenever we're not with him.
Is starting to understand his toys more.
Seems to understand what we say to him more
Signs for "more" (Actually the sign for more is a clap..but it's purposeful so we count it.)
He shakes his head no whenever I say yes. With a huge smile on his face. I think he thinks he's saying yes right along with me.

Oh! Sweet little man is awake! Have a great week! More to come!

well.

So if you have read my posts lately..there's pretty much a theme - either posts about Noah or about the heavy heart I've been carrying around lately. It seems like every day I hear a new story that just breaks my heart, and oh my heart is just, well I don't really have words. Anyways, the Stone released a worship cd last week, and two of the songs have just really been speaking to my soul. So I thought I would share.

#1. Oh I love hymns. "On Christ the Solid Rock"
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus' name

When darkness seems to hide his face
I rest on his unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand

His oath, His covenant, His blood
Support me in the whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay

When he shall come with trumpet sound
Oh may I then in Him be found
Dressed in his righteousness alone
Faultless to stand before the throne

On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking stand


#2. Forever Reign
You are good, You are good, when there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love, on display for all to see
You are light, You are light, when the darkness closes in

You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace, when my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true, even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy, You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost its sting

Oh, I’m running to Your arms, I’m running to Your arms
The riches of Your love, will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

You are more, You are more, than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord, all creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here, in Your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

My heart will sing
No other Name
Jesus, Jesus

I'm so thankful for the ability to worship, when sometimes my words seem so small and insignificant. I'm especially thankful for an EVER FAITHFUL Lord and Savior.

Hope y'all have a great week. A 10 month update to come. Our little bud is getting so big!

I'm so excited!

So on Pinterest I saw this adorable little photo book...it looked like this.

And I thought.."ADORABLE!"

I have been wanting to make something special for Noah for Christmas, and then to start a tradition for our next kiddos. I love reading to him, and I love the idea of a personalized board book. If this turns out I would love to make one for each kiddo!

BUT: The link that was on Pinterest was wrong. So I googled it...of course...and I couldn't find a website that I liked, and I definitely couldn't find the one that I was looking for.

HOWEVER: Today I googled again..just in case! And I found the website! And it's reasonably priced. And I can get it by Christmas!

Oh I am so excited! This will be such a great way for him to see pictures of all his family members who don't live here in Texas. We have like zero pictures in frames here (truth- I know that's sad) and so now he'll have a little book of his very own that can teach him.

That's it for today! The website is pintsizeproductions.com

Yay!

Valley of Vision

Oh also...I forgot I wanted to post this today. At the worship service tonight they read this prayer from Valley of Vision. It really hit my heart.

MY FATHER,
Enlarge my heart, warm my affections, open my lips,
supply words that proclaim ‘Love lustres at Calvary.’
There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse,
and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified, and infinite atonement was made;
There infinite punishment was due, and infinite punishment was endured.
Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,
cast off that I might be brought in,
trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,
surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,
stripped that I might be clothed,
wounded that I might be healed,
athirst that I might drink,
tormented that I might be comforted,
made a shame that I might inherit glory,
entered darkness that I might have eternal light.
My Saviour wept that all tears might be wiped from my eyes,
groaned that I might have endless song,
endured all pain that I might have unfading health,
bore a thornèd crown that I might have a glory-diadem (crown),
bowed his head that I might uplift mine,
experienced reproach that I might receive welcome,
closed his eyes in death that I might gaze on unclouded brightness,
expired that I might forever live.
O Father, who spared not thine only Son that thou mightest spare me,
All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished;
Help me to adore thee by lips and life.
O that my every breath might be ecstatic praise,
my every step buoyant with delight,
as I see my enemies crushed,
Satan baffled, defeated, destroyed,
sin buried in the ocean of reconciling blood,
hell’s gates closed, heaven’s portal open.
Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.

So many different thoughts.

I seem to have so many things on my mind lately..about all SORTS of crazy things. Not all crazy..but all over the place. After being inspired by Rox...here we go.

1. http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/austin-stone-live/id482639306
Get this. I think you would really like it.

2. We had a worship service tonight. It was absolutely amazing.
3. Life seems to get harder the older I get. Not even necessarily for us. But for our friends and family. Watching this truth play out in life has only proven to me how not in control of this life on earth that I am.
4. Christmas is in 19 days. OH MY GOODNESS! I'm so so so excited to celebrate Christmas with our little man!
5. We get to see both our families at Christmas. YAY!
6. I turn 27 in 13 days. 27. When I still feel 18. Well- 18 but married and with a baby boy, and a nursing degree. All things I didn't have at 18. But I have an extremely hard time believing I'm going to be 27. Also..I remember when I was in college..and on Friends Rachel turns 30...and I remember thinking 30 was so far away...I'm fast approaching 30. But I'm cool with that..because each year brings something new and exciting and I like that.
7. Noah got his first tooth. Oh my goodness. He really did pretty well with it. Yesterday was a little tough as he REALLY wanted to be with mama all day, but then that little tooth broke through last night, and this morning we have a full bottom tooth through, and another corner of a little bottom tooth through.
8. We purchased a little piano for Noah (a toy obviously) and he LOVES it! And it cracks me up!
9. Christmas brings me so much joy. What an amazing time of year.
10. I can't wait to be home for Christmas. Sarah, Phil, and the girls will be home from Florida, and Luke will be home from Columbus, and I mean - Oh My Word. I'm PUMPED.
11. We decorated for Christmas this week. It makes the apartment a little more homey!
12. Speaking of the apartment...we haven't found a house yet. Which has been tough. I miss having our own home, and our own space. But I am trying (and it is a daily battle) to trust in the Lord's timing. He will provide a house when it is time. We have prayed all along that He would give very opened or very closed doors in this process. So far he has done EXACTLY that. He allowed our house to sell in 18 days- full asking price- OPEN door. We put an offer on a house and the owner countered 1000 off list price (we were QUITE a bit shy of that on our offer) - CLOSED door. We found another house- but it already had multiple offers being negotiated - CLOSED door. Then we found another..and we REALLY wanted that one to work -but after praying about it both of us came to the conclusion that this was not the house for us - CLOSED door. So here we are - and we're waiting and praying that an open door will be soon. But for now, we're extending our lease until May -and then we'll be looking to lease in Taylor if we are unable to find a house to buy.

That's it. Time to go to bed. Hope you have an awesome week!

Oh Indiana.

Back in October we were able to head back to Indiana for Purdue's homecoming. It was SUCH a great weekend...though SUPER busy..but we had a GREAT time!

We were able to spend time with Brad's grad school friends (who are AWESOME), a little time with some of Brad's family (looking forward to more at Christmas!), quite a bit of time with my family (also looking forward to more of this at Christmas!), met sweet baby Austin and had lunch with El, and played some cards/chatted with Rox & Jake and played with sweet Nora. Noah and I were able to go on our first trip to the Covered Bridge Festival with Mom, Aunt Vic, and Aunt Jo. It was so great! I know I'm forgetting some things...but let's be honest..it was over a month ago that we were there- can we say BEHIND?!

Here are some pictures..that's the best part anyways.

I stole these next few from Aunt Jo. We had a family dinner of Arni's - because it's the B-E-S-T. I LOVE my family. I love Arni's. AMAZING.

Noah bundled up and ready to shop til he drops!

Partying in Indiana is hard work!

With Nana.

Noah went right on over there to Rox so she would cuddle him with Nora.

SO adorable! Hard to believe these two are quickly approaching 1 year old. WHAT?! Love that Nora is such a sweet little lady!
More cuddles with Rox.

Meeting sweet little Austin. Noah was super interested. He can't wait until Austin can play with him! I can't wait to get Austin, Nora, and Noah all together. It kinda brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. I know I'm getting older...but so cool and weird all at the same time to all have had babies this year. (My other friend from home, Manders also had a little man this past year.)

Loving on that Uncle Luke. He seriously could play with Uncle Luke all day every day. Even when we face time Luke cracks him up. I love it.

Have a great week!!

Dear Blog.

Oh my dear blog.

I have not forgotten you.

I've been busy.

Making Christmas things. Going to Missouri for Thanksgiving. Enjoying this season. Loving on my sweet baby and sweet husband.

And so I have been weak in my blogging.

But there are blogs to come. With updates on that little dude, and our little life.

That is all.

9 Months Old. Wow.

9 months have passed. Almost as long as I was pregnant with this little guy. This week I've been especially emotional over how big he is getting. (P.S. Will these crazy emotions ever settle down?) Seriously...I just watch him with tears some days because I'm just fascinated by him.

9 Month Stats:
Weight: 21lb 6.5oz slowing down now that big boy is on the move.
Height: 29"

It's been another big month of growing and learning for our little man - here we go:
Pulls up to standing
Cruises between pieces of furniture
Takes steps using a little push dinosaur (The other day I was helping him when my friend Cara was here-boy was watching Cara the WHOLE time with this big smile on his face just showing off for her - he walked the most he has done yet just to show off for her)
Continues with "dada" Sometimes I hear "mama" when he's finished with his nap...but never other than those times despite my best efforts.
I've also noticed that he has started to mimic what I say sometimes. He'll only do it once, and then I'll try to get him to do it again and he just smiles. So it's not purposeful-but it's funny. I do think he's trying, but I realize he has no clue what he's saying.
Mama finally made his baby food this month and he has done really well with it-except the chicken...and who can blame him for that. I've mixed it with other things..and he tries..but he's not a big fan. See the video below for his first day trying. I was working that day, he had just been diagnosed with his first ear infection (boo) and yet he was still so stinking happy.
Figured out how to eat his puffs without choking. :)
Spent time with a ton of family. We went home to Lafayette and were able to see almost all of my family, even Uncle Lukie came, and some of Brad's too...we can't wait until Christmas when we get to see the newest member of the family from Brad's side of the family. We were so sad we weren't able to go meet him while we were there.
I forgot to mention last month that he was able to spend time with Aunt Sarah, Uncle Phil, and the girls. How he loves his cousins!
First ear infection -yuck. They are rough on a little one. First fever. Also yuck. I think he's on the mend now but poor little guy has had a rough last week.
Likes to be read to now.
He is CRAZY busy.
SOOO hard to get a diaper on. Boy does not like to lay still. It literally takes two of us sometimes. (I thought that might be more due to weak sauce parenting-but I truly think the boy is just a crazy little wiggle worm)
Has finally gotten into a nice routine of two naps daily
But has started waking up again at 4 or 5am to eat. I can't seem to get him convinced he doesn't need to eat them...hopefully this is just a phase.
We wake up in the morning to him standing in his crib with a huge smile on his face (after he goes back down from his 5am wake up call)
Gets so excited when he sees Brad in the morning..and sometimes will crawl to follow him as Brad walks out the door in the morning. Love how he loves that daddy.
Had his first Halloween. Was a pretty cute Pooh.
Loves cardboard boxes
Loves dogs
Such a curious little dude. He watches everything that goes on around us, and wants to be in on the action.

That's it. Here are a few pictures. Hard to believe that in a few months a whole year would have passed. Have a great week!

With Mimi and Grandpa Pud when they came to visit

Yep...he likes to sit there and wait for us to come in. Just ever so quietly. This was actually at night time and he had been "asleep" for about 30 minutes. I went to check on him and turns out. Not asleep, but waiting there for us to come play.

Ornery. I love it.

I'd like to think he loves to read...but I think he might prefer just to make fun messes.

Playing in the laundry.

The chicken.

Family Pictures!

So I have been wanting to have professional pictures taken of Noah for awhile, but since we didn't do newborn pictures, we decided to wait until he was old enough to smile in them. Well then we had the opportunity to go back to Indiana for Purdue's homecoming...a post I WILL post soon...and we found a photographer to take our pictures in the gorgeous Indiana fall colors! Sweet Brad went along with them even though the weekend was already crazy busy. I was so happy she was available...and they turned out great! Here are just a few of our favorites!

ALSO...if you are in Lafayette and want pictures taken- look Joy up. JoyInspiration Photography. She was so sweet and we felt very affordable. Plus I just think she did a great job! (P.S. If you think you might be interested do this before January-she and her husband are moving to Alabama then.) Here they are!

Want to play a game?

Let's play guess where Noah's favorite place is...

Boy loves him some laundry! It's adorable. If I open the laundry closet door he leaves WHATEVER he is doing to come and observe. He's entertained for quite some time. (Bad mama confession: sometimes I do laundry when I'm making dinner so he will be entertained and I can cook)

Either way. I love it. Kinda in love with that sweet face.

Also- remember when I said I thought I had a trick for blogging (Rox) I was wrong. As evidenced by the lack of blogging. :) Soon there will be more updates. Have a great week!

Halloween.

So..I've never been much of a Halloween kind of girl. I think I only went out trick or treating like once. We actually have never passed out candy since we've been married either. (Not because we wouldn't-but because we seem to never be home on the night of) I LOVE to see little ones in their sweet costumes though...so I was super excited to dress our little man up in his first costume.

Confession: Years ago..like maybe after we had just gotten married- we found a Winnie the Pooh costume on sale for like $8 at a Disney outlet and bought it for our future child.

Fast forward to last night..and our sweet little man put that little costume to use. PRECIOUS.

We had such a great time! We went out to the Big T for some time with our community group. We ate delish potato soup outside while the kiddos played and passed out candy to the all the Taylor folk. It was fantastic! How we love these people we're doing life with. They rock. Here are some pictures!

The girls in our community group.
LOVE them.
Favorite picture of the evening.
Sweet boy was LOVING that fire truck!
Enjoying the beautiful weather!
Snuggles with Auntie Kat.
Love my little pooh.
My sweet boys.
Our little fam!
P.S. I think I may finally have a system for getting some blogging done. :) Hopefully more to come!

Have a great week!