Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Life Lately in Pics - Settling In

I last left off with our move so here is what we were up to the first couple of weeks back at home. Those first two weeks felt very much like a vacation (still hadn't hit me that we were here to stay).

Two days after arriving home, we celebrated Easter with a large family gathering. There was tons of food, family, and fun. My three favorite F-words!




Exactly how the egg hunt went. Alena was happy, Christian upset at his lack of finding eggs,
and Noah digging for candy filled eggs.

We celebrated Noah's first birthday and he enjoyed the ice cream cake.

All 7 of the grandkids. Ages 11, 9, 7, 5, 3, 1, and 1.
Sleepover!

The kids and I visited the Maple Festival, a large local event that is held annually. We watched the Tug of War, Bathtub Races, and Lumberjack competitions, had some food (to die for deep fried Oreos!), and the kids rode some rides. It was hectic handling all three by myself but we survived and did everything planned minus the parade (I was DONE).





MMM, deep fried Oreos. SO GOOD!
Stayed tuned for another update. I actually enjoy doing these quick posts. Less words. :)

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Life Lately in Pics - Moving

So I know I've been seriously lacking in the posts lately and I'm sorry. I've fallen off the blog wagon and can't seem to jump back on board. So instead of posting a ton of posts with what we've been doing since we moved, I'm just going to show you by compiling all the posts into a few with a multitude of pictures.

Let's start with where my posts were leaving off, back in Arizona and getting ready for the move.
Playing in the sprinkler while we try to get the grass green.


^This is why it took me so long and it was almost pointless trying to pack while he was awake.

This hurts to look at. The house in disarray.

Alena's countdown to the move.

This is our moving pod not completely done yet. I added whatever else would fit and it was FULL.

No room for mama. This was our bed for the last few nights at the house.
And now let's move on to the actual move and trip home.

Our safe haven for the past 6+ years. Goodbye. :(

Packed like sardines.

Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX

We were not expecting to wake up to SNOW in Amarillo, TX!
The arch in St. Louis.

He loved being in the top of the arch.

Our view from the top.
It was a crazy crazy crazy month and I'm glad it's over. I absolutely hate moving. My next post will include pictures from our first couple of weeks home.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Noah is ONE!

Noah is turning 13 months (tomorrow, EEK!) so this is quite a bit late. Better late than never though, eh?

Weight - 18.1 lbs  You are the same weight that your siblings were at a year. Funny how that turned out.

Height - 29.5 in

Appearance - Some days you have blonde hair and other days you seem to have hints of red in it. Your eyes are still blue and I think they'll stay that way just like Christian. I looked it up and there was a less than 8% chance your eyes would've stayed blue considering mommy and daddy are both brown eyed.
 
Eating - You are excellent at trying food but there is plenty of stuff you are not fond of. The only food you have consistently loved are yogurt, strawberries, bananas, and chicken. You still love to nurse and do so to fall asleep. There are times when you are just not happy but after a short nursing session, you are back to your happy self.


Sleeping - Despite the move and our schedules being out of whack, your naps have improved! You take two, sometimes three naps a day. You usually have one good long 2-3 hour nap with the other one(s) being under an hour. You are also nursing less at night (down to once or twice!) which mama is appreciative of.


Milestones - SO many new milestones this month!

Trying to write with pens, pencils, or anything that resembles the two.
"Helping" Alena with her homework.
You added some new teeth! At a year, you had 10 but now at 13 months, you have 12.

You had your third cross country trip in the car (April 12-18) and did very well. You got to visit several landmarks and new things including Cadillac Ranch, the Arch, and seeing your aunt Kristine for the first time.

You have developed jealousy issues. You do not like it when mommy has any other child or even animal in my lap.

You went back to waving after stopping for some reason last month.

You mimic us. Daddy had you doing so much one night - standing on one foot, marching, swaying side to side, and bobbing your head. It was adorable to watch!

You had your first haircut before daddy left so he could be there for it.

You can say more, all done, hi, dada, mama, NO, and your newest word... Alena (nana)

You do the cutest thing when saying no. You will point your finger and shake it at us! You also follow Alena and Christian around when they are rough-housing yelling no and shaking your little finger at them.

You understand when you are not allowed to do something because after we tell you no, the next time you do it or are near something you can't touch, you will tell yourself no.

You are still getting into everything! I can't keep up with your mischief.

Doing what he does best... making a mess.




Likes - wrestling, being outside, swinging (loves it and will cry when we take you off), watching Alena and Christian play and trying to join in, enjoying baths again

Dislikes - having things taken from you like toys or something you shouldn't be having, when you have a dirty diaper, diaper changes, coming inside when you're playing outside


Noah, where has the time gone? It is so bittersweet that you are growing up. We have just absolutely loved watching you grow into the adorable and funny little guy that you are. You are constantly learning something new and amaze us every single day. We can carry on conversations with you even though we don't know what you're saying because you love to talk to us. You make it known to us when something is not going your way and also feel you need to take a bite out of every object you touch. I'm sorry to break it to you, but those habits have got to go. Noah, you love trying to keep up with your older siblings and it won't be long now before you'll be able to run right behind them. We love you so much and are excited to see what the next year holds for you.

Friday, May 2, 2014

Featured!

I'm so sorry for my severe lack of posts lately. Moving cross country, selling a home that is 2000 miles away, geographically single parenting, all the major adjusting to this new life, and other excuses hoopla I could give you but I'll spare you. I promise posts are coming!


Anyway, the reason I'm chiming in real quick today is because I have a featured/guest post over at Mama & Mou! She blogs all things pregnancy and baby related which is right up my alley. I submitted Noah's birth story and she posted it on her blog!


Check it out.