An update

I feel there may be two blog posts coming on.  And update..and then maybe one that actually talks about something a little deeper.  Having all sorts of thoughts tonight.  So first...an update.

Night two of bink-be-gone: Cutting the tip off the bink - a mix of failure and success.  Failure in that it took 5 hours (SERIOUSLY 5) for him to fall asleep.  The boy is crazy.  He giggles, plays, yells, cries a bit.  We go check in on him, but he just wouldn't give in.  However SUCCESS in that finally at almost 1230 he finally went down.  He woke up super happy and giggly..and wasn't at all upset about the bink.  

I'm a little concerned he's still going to want it.  But at least he finally gave in.  I figure he must know something is off with it taking 5 hours to fall asleep.  

Today is his first day of napping with the broken bink. He really was upset today.  He cried LOUDLY for a few minutes.  I went to check on him, and tucked him in again and he hasn't made a peep since.  Here's hoping it keeps getting better.  

He definitely doesn't even think about it when he doesn't see it so eventually I have faith it will work.  

In other news..I'm wondering if we're going about these transitions backwards.  Wondering if he really might be ready to potty train.  Last night he ran up to me right before bedtime, patted his diaper and said uh-oh.  I asked him if he wanted to potty and he said yes and went running in there.  Next thing I knew he went.  YAY Noah!  Today as I was using the ladies room he said peepee, and we went straight to his potty and he went again.  So I guess he's getting it.  He seems to prefer to do his real business on the potty...he doesn't seem to notice the tinkle in the diaper as much.  

We've been looking into daycare/preschools for little man.  

#1 it breaks my heart to think of being away from him for that many hours and him not being with his Auntie Kat (or Shauna, Cara, or Janielle.  that boy had some seriously awesome peeps in Austin) 

#2 it's hard to decide what is best for him.  We've narrowed it down to two options but Brad hasn't been able to see either one yet so we'll see.  

#3 I think he could really benefit from this atmosphere for a couple days each week.  The school I looked at today is a minimum of two days each week, but I think that could be so good for him.  He really doesn't have any interaction with other kiddos other than in the church nursery each week, and he misses his friends. Or I miss him having the opportunity to play with his friends. Plus I might have the opportunity for groceries/cleaning/errands if I'm only working one day a week.  That way our time can be more quality on the days he doesn't go.  

#4 I have so much respect for mama's who work full time.  Some of these things we're having to think of (hours of daycare, cost, if it's good for him, yada yada) we never ever had to worry about it in Austin.  How amazingly blessed we were.  Now, as we are going through all these searches I am frequently reminded how thankful I am for the last year and a half of Noah's life for him being loved on by our sweet friends, and that I have so much respect for parents who have already figured this all out.  It's tough.  

#5 We have to make a decision pretty quickly so I'm really hoping for some peace on this soon.  

That's about it for now.. have a great week!

Bink Be Gone

Alright.  Yet another parenting move I thought we wouldn't fall prey too.  The binky.

Before a year old Noah could have it during the day, but we soon cut it off except for naps/bedtime/airplanes and some public outings.  At home we try not to give it to him.

Well since we've moved, we seem to have regressed.  All of us.  We parents give it to him...because we don't want a scene, or we want him to be able to sleep.  He grabs it if he sees it out of his crib.  

OH NO.  

So tonight we cut it off.  Cold turkey...took it away.  

And then three hours later we gave in.  He got it back. Oops. 

I think tomorrow we're cutting the tips off.  I think that might work better than this cold turkey stuff..so he at least thinks he has it. 

Goofy boy didn't cry until the end.  For 2 1/2 hours he just talked/giggled/played in the crib.  At the end he was so tired he just cried.  Until Brad came and handed me the bink to give to him, at which point he gave in to his exhaustion and hasn't made a peep since. 

But tomorrow we're starting boot camp.  It's time..the thing has to go.  Baby Duey is on the way and we really don't want Noah regressing once that happens. 

Next up is possible potty training.  Brad has been wanting me to try this, and I have been in total rebellion against that.  I  doput him on the potty pretty much once a day every day..and he usually goes.  He never fusses, he just goes. So after the bink..I supposed I'll try it.  But I am in no hurry.  I want it to work when we really do potty train.  And I'm not convinced he's ready.  I suppose the fact that he is interested and goes almost every time even just a bit is a good sign.  I guess the mama in me isn't ready for him to be grown up enough to understand the potty. And if you are thinking he's not even two yet and there's no way he's ready...we are going to be realistic about this.  Not force it.  We just figure if he shows interest lets go with it. 

That's about it for now.   Have a great week!

because i'm on a roll...

Clearly I need someone to talk to during the day because I feel like I am ready to have a conversation with my blog like every day.  I know these posts are more interesting to me than you...but like I said..gotta chat with someone.  :)  

So Leah, as I've been reading yours...a blog of confessions.  

Noah used to be able to transfer if he fell asleep in the car- PERFECTLY- into his crib.  He did this up until we moved here...or maybe a month or so afterwards.  So unfortunately now if he falls asleep in the car he thinks he's all done with naps for the day.  This particular mama isn't getting any sleep at night...I RELY on nap time.  Today.  He doesn't want to sleep.  But he's exhausted. I'm hoping to win the battle.

My kid is addicted to Curious George.  He gets to watch it on the ride back and forth between here and Lafayette, but I mean he's obsessed.  If he sees the ipad he starts calling for George.  If I tell him he gets to watch George..he starts giggling like he has just won the best prize of his life.  OH NO.
I'm baking my very first ever pumpkin pie from scratch currently.  The filling was about the consistency of milk.  Seriously.  If you remember back to our first Thanksgiving married and the absolute tragedy that was my pumpkin roll- you can imagine I'm a little apprehensive.  I followed the recipe exactly...I'm just worried I didn't have enough pumpkin puree (when I say from scratch I mean real pumpkin and homemade crust) 

I really nap every single day if I can when Noah naps.  I mean like I put him down, and go jump in our bed.  Ironically I cannot for the life of me sleep in that bed at night...but during the day it's my favorite place in the apartment.  Today, no nap...as I previously stated Noah doesn't want to nap, plus the baking of the pie.  Oh well.

I'm on a crochet kick, I miss you Amy Bean and your amazing knowledge of crocheting.  I'm currently working on trying to read crochet patterns so that I can work on some new ones as the babies keep on coming into our friends' lives.  I am super behind but working hard on trying to get them done.  I'm not convinced I will be able to read a pattern as the only pattern I know Amy taught me in the car.


Noah is going as a Lion for halloween.  Adorable. 

I give up.  I think he's not going to sleep.  Time to play with the little one. :) 

• 
  

Who needs a name.

I think this baby may be nameless.  

Truly..if Duey is a boy..it could happen.  Can't agree on anything.  Not because we're super stubborn so much as neither of us loves one enough that we have to have. I keep finding names I like..then vetoing them myself.  Noah stole the only name I was certain of.  I have a few that I am liking more and more..but so far they are no go's with Brad.

If Duey is a girl...well we have quite a few we like.  Brad's pretty dead set..but I feel like we have to have options.  Just in case? 

But we have to have one of each prepared this time.  That's fun! And crazy.  

HALFWAY today.  I am so excited.

I forgot how much fun this part is.  This part where I can watch my belly move.  The first little precious movements.  So stinking amazing.

Also amazing...we are going to AUSTIN.  It's official, in December, bought our tickets today.  I've been giddy all day, like a silly little school girl.  YYAAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!  

That's it.  :) 

Oh insomnia.

2am. 

Wide awake..but feeling like maybe I could be starting to fade soon.

But hey, I have to say you can get a lot done in these hours when everyone else is asleep.  I just finished off a baby blanket.  Which is good because I have lots to make, and even more burp cloths to make so I have to get moving.

But the couch is getting old to sleep on.

When I was pregnant with Noah I couldn't sleep either, and we moved to the guest room.  However the guest room in this condo is a little too small for both the crib and the bed so our bed is in storage and I have taken up residence on the couch a few nights a week.  I miss my husband, who thankfully is a very gracious man and doesn't take offense to the fact that he wakes up many mornings with my side of the bed empty.  (Don't think I don't try- I'm stubborn..I keep trying to fall asleep in the bedroom but often end up on the couch) 

Oh well.  As I've been sitting here working on my blanket Duey has been kicking away which just makes me so happy.  The first hints of the precious bond I'll have with this little one.  Can't believe that we're halfway through on Thursday.  It feels like it's going so fast..and yet it feels like it will take forever.  I think that's just because of the not knowing if Duey is a boy or girl...I'm so excited for that moment to see what the fourth precious member of our family is.  But I'm also super excited that we're going to be surprised. So 20 weeks down..20 to go! YAY!!

I went out for my first social thing tonight with ladies.  I went with 4 other ladies who are at my table for the Mom2Mom ministry at the church we've been going to.  I had a great time.  It was nice to be with some ladies again.  I'm thankful that these women have been so welcoming to me.  Thankful!

Brad and I are going to make our first homemade pumpkin pie this week.  I'm pumped.  I've never made anything homemade in regards to pumpkin (as in I usually use the can) but at the pumpkin patch Brad was fascinated by the pie pumpkins and asked if I wanted to try to make one from scratch.  So I'm going all out..crust and all.  I'll post.  As previously noted, I'm not an excellent baker, or cook for that matter, so we'll see how this goes! :)  

That's about it for now...feel like my eyelids are getting heavy so I think it's time to give sleep a chance! 

Have a great week!

Naps!

Thank goodness for nap time.  I have taken a nap 4/5 days this week.  I'm so grateful for that.  I'm grateful that Brad is patient when the house isn't perfectly organized and doesn't get mad when I waste what free time I have during the day to sleep.  

Seriously though, a nap can do wonders. 

I skipped the nap today.  I'm in a crazy crafty mood so I spent nap time crocheting today, and plan to sew tomorrow.  LOVE it.  Love all the sweet babies we have gifts to make for.  

Super excited for this weekend.  We get to see Baby Due (Prounounced Duey) tomorrow.  Since this time around we aren't going to find out if the little one is a boy or girl, I told Brad I needed a name that Noah could say that's not just baby.  We came up with a few and none of them stuck, so sweet Dave Campise suggested due.  It's two in Italian.  Noah has totally picked it up. It's ADORABLE.  Last night in the car he started calling out Duey.  I thought that maybe he was just babbling.  But today he saw my belly and said it again.  When I asked him where Duey is he came and patted my belly, then I said we should give Duey a kiss and he gave his little kiss to Duey.  Oh my goodness.  It's precious!  

So I will now refer to the baby as Duey.  Silly but exciting to have something to call the little one.  

Our 20 week ultrasound is tomorrow morning.  I'm so thankful they do weekend ultrasounds so Brad can be there too.  I tried to record the heartbeat for him the other day, but failed twice.  (Seriously that's a little pathetic but true) So I'm excited for us to be together for the ultrasound.  Yay!! 

We're going to try to go to the pumpkin patch tonight if Brad gets off in time.  LOVE this time of year!  The weather is perfect, the trees are beautiful, it's amazing.     

That's about it for the day.  A little man I know and adore just woke up and is chatting away in his room.  Time for mama to go play!  Have a great week! 

Because I don't want to forget this time...

I'm going to write down some of my favorite Noah things.

I have to write them here..because I'm not great at baby books (I'm still working on Noah's...1.5 years later so I have to write it down somewhere...) so I'm going to write it out so just in case I get to that baby book I have the info to fill it in.  :)

Our little man is crazy.  Crazy fun.  Crazy silly.  Crazy busy. Crazy TODDLER.

We're in LOVE. 

Lots of things I need to get a picture of or a video..but here we go.

He is now front facing in the car.  Our pediatrician might have our tails if we were still in Austin..but after riding front facing while in Florida and then at Mom and Dad's..he is no longer interested in rear facing.  Our car rides are now much more chatty.  Sweet little man of ours likes to tell me about everything he sees.  I love it.  He does yell out what he wants me to know...and gets louder until I respond.  So we have quite the time.

He throws things from the backseat at me.  It's pretty funny.  I shouldn't let him do it, but it just cracks me up. And he only does it when he's playing.  

He can also see me, which is good and bad.  If I'm eating...bad..he wants what I have. If he's mad...it's bad..because he realizes he can vocalize how unhappy he is.  But if he's in a good mood..it's awesome because he is full on in all his silly glory and I love it.

Moving on from the car...he has some new words.

Emi: Semi

Bus: Bus (He thinks anything that is rounded on top is a bus even UPS trucks and dump trucks)

Utru: Truck

Bubbles

Mo: More

Peas: Please

Pubby: Puppy

Up peas: Up please

Yesh: Yes

Meme: Ma'am (Which he will get on a roll saying Meme Meme Meme- I'm really trying to get him into yes ma'am.  We'll see how that goes.)

cackers: Crackers

He answers questions with umm..no or ummm.yesh. Sometimes the answer makes me want to pull my hair out..always the answer is cute.

He is a full on tantrum throwing toddler now.  I'm not sure what to do.  There is a real moment of terror that comes over me when he goes into meltdown mode.  It kinda makes me want to curl up and cry.  (I think that may be partially pregnancy hormones) On Sunday we had a tantrum moment at home.  I mean the boy was in hysterics.  Brad tried to do the discipline (because that most definitely is more effective than Mama despite my best efforts) we put him in timeout, I went in after two different attempts by Brad and he finally calmed down.  I don't even remember what on earth the tantrum was over.  Today is was because he tried to hit me (that's new too) in Penney's so I wouldn't let him walk anymore and he screamed the entire way out of the store.  I felt like every woman in the store was thinking "Woman get your child under control" and all I could think was "Lord how do I parent him in this moment? Because I'm pretty much out of ideas."

Please parents of children older than mine..any tips?  Brad and I are all about trying anything.  It's not all the time by any means. For the majority of times he is our sweet tender hearted boy.  But I have this fear of not curbing these behaviors early enough, and we want so badly to raise him well..to understand that we discipline him for his heart, so that he can display the love of Jesus, and not just be on him about his behavior.

Back to fun..

If you ask him how a flamingo stands he kicks one foot out.  It's adorable.  Our neighbors have three plastic flamingo's in one of their flower pots so we do this alot.

He will dance sometimes.  Cracks us up.

Plays well with other kiddos.

He thinks it's hilarious to be chased. So he will grab something he knows he isn't supposed to have and go running with it with this huge ornery grin on his face.

He has learned he can open to bottom cabinets to stand in them to reach things on the counter.

He loves to throw things away, or put things in the sink, or "help" me with the laundry and emptying the dishwasher, he'll bring pillows when I'm making the bed.  My little cleaner man.

He has become kinda a snuggler in the last few weeks.  Oh my goodness am I in LOVE.  I am treasuring every moment of snuggles I get because once that baby #2 comes I know our time will be a little more limited for just he and mama time.

LOVES to be outside. At mom and dad's he gets so excited if I say the word outside.

Likes to find my shoes to give to me.

Has a happy dance where he kinda hops back and forth from one foot to another.  It's so stinking adorable.  I need to video it.

He LOVES babies.  Everywhere we go he says "baby baby baby" and then if the baby is crying he is super worried about it "UH OH UH OH Baby!" There were babies crying on our flight home from Florida..I thought he was going to jump over the seat to get to them.  He was pretty obsessed with sweet Ella while we were in Florida.   

That's it for now.  Have a great week! 

Updates.

Life has been good.  :)  

I am so thankful for the last few weeks that we have had.  They have really made me feel more at home...which is a little ironic since I've spent like 3 days here over the last  two weeks. Hahaha oh well.  

On a side note...if you have called me in the last weeks and I haven't responded please forgive me.  It's coming. I will call soon.  So so sorry.  

We went on a Disney cruise with Brad's parents two weeks ago now.  It was sooo amazing.  Disney just makes you feel so special, and it was so relaxing.  It was AWESOME.  Noah did great on the cruise and we were so thankful for that.  Brad and I even got some time together which was great.  I'll post more about this later which actual pictures.  It was perfect. 

After the cruise we spent two days at the Disney parks and then headed over to see Sarah, Phil and their three beautiful little ladies.  We got to meet our newest precious niece and that was AMAZING.  It's hard to be away and not get to help out with the girls for Sarah and Phil but how great it was to have some time together.  It was hard to leave.  

When we left Sarah's Noah and I headed back to Mom and Dad's while Brad had the week to spend in Muncie.  Noah loves it there so as always we were super relaxed and able to rest up a bit there.  

We finally came back home Saturday night so we could make it to church on Sunday.  We have a new church we've now been to twice and we're excited to keep going.  We miss the Stone so much...but we have to find a church home here.  I was pumped on Sunday because we got a call from a girl for the mom's program the church has.  I didn't know that I had gotten in (there was a wait list) so when I got the call I almost cried I was so excited.  Here's a chance to meet women, who have small kiddos, who live near me.  YAY!!!  

Today was my first meeting and I loved it.  We sit in small tables, there is a "mentor mom" who has grown children, and then a table leader.  Two other girls at my table also graduated from Olivet.  So cool.  (I didn't know them they were a little ahead of me at Olivet but still) Two other ladies had just recently relocated to the area from other states also.  I feel like the Lord just totally picked me up and plucked me right down into that group.  I am so thankful.  A sweet woman, Ellen, was the one who really got me involved and I am so thankful for her.  I'm thankful for those who see a need.  I spoke with her our first Sunday at the church, and she took my info and got me registered and all that good stuff.  Then she found me today to talk to me and introduce me to the women's ministry director at the church.  How grateful I am for welcoming and inviting people.  :)  

That's about it for today.  Little man is napping..which means I shall be also.  I take any sleep I can get right now.  Two kiddos soon enough.  Yay!  

Hope you have a great week!