Need a Photographer?

Several of my friends are in the market for a wedding photographer. I thought I would offer up Noah's services, seeing how well he captures images:


(Imagine dozens of these images every time I go to upload pictures from the camera to the laptop...one of the many joys of having a 3 year old!)

Noah Bonds With Noelle

I have TWO sleeping children and it's only 8:00 - could it be?!?! I should go lay down myself but it is so hard to find the time to post pictures so I will take advantage of this rare opportunity.

Noah has spent lots of time bonding with his baby sister over the first month of her life. He loves to hold her and asks to do so constantly throughout the day. Earlier this week, he told me to go take a shower and he would watch Noelle for me. He then proceeded to sit down on the floor and lay her blanket on his lap and demand that I lay her in his lap. He's like a little man trapped in little boy's body! That's the angelic side of him. Then we have the little devil who loves to "burp" her. This equates to slapping her on the back, in a not so gentle way. We have definitely had some challenges with the adjustment but were anticipating a rough patch with him so I feel like we were somewhat prepared. Hopefully, things will settle down and he'll become a little less interested in her until she's old enough to hold her own!

Here are a few shots of the two of them:

Happy Birthday, Noah!!

Edited on 8/20 to add pictures :)

Today we celebrated Noah's 3rd birthday! It's so hard to believe that he is already three years old. For anyone who has children, you know how quickly time flies. He is so much fun at this age and it just keeps getting better! Throughout the day, I make a mental note of things that he says with the hope that I can remember them when I finally get around to writing but my memory is awful these days! He is hilarious though...hopefully, my memory will improve now that I'm not pregnant anymore and I can better relay some of the stuff that comes out of his mouth :) This morning started with Noah opening a few of his gifts. His 'anywhere' chair got a new slipcover - Batman - it was an inside joke between Noah and Daddy. He was laughing when he first saw it but was in tears within a minute because he thought it replaced his 'Superman' one (it's really just a plain red slipcover but Noah thinks anything that is red is Superman). By this afternoon he was playing his Xbox while sitting in the chair so I think he's over it! I got really brave yesterday and took both kids to Toys 'R Us so Noah could pick out some presents. It was my first time out with both of them by myself and it was actually not too bad. The Baby Bjorn is a must because it allows me two free hands - a must with Noah :) He picked out Batman figures and a PSP game which I somehow kept from him all night and then we wrapped them. Nothing like being surprised by your birthday presents... I feel like we slighted him a little this year but I have to remind myself that he is spoiled rotten and not having a birthday party with his little friends isn't the end of the world! We decided to take Noah to Benihana for dinner and Grams watched Noelle so we could have some 2-1 time with him. Aunt Jen joined us so it was really 3-1 time! We asked him where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner and his response was "a restaurant". Thanks, Noah...very helpful! He was a little bent out of shape that we were leaving Grams and Noelle home but he quickly got over that. He was so well-behaved at dinner (it's hit and miss with his behavior at restaurants) and we really had an enjoyable meal. He seems so much older these days now that we have a newborn at home. I was watching him eat his meal and thinking how independent he is now. He was even using chopsticks like a pro! The highlight of the meal was not the food for Noah though...it was definitely Aunt Jen taking him to the bathroom. He got quite a charge out of the automatic soap dispensers in the bathroom and Aunt Jen lets him get away with his antics a bit more than Mommy or Daddy. He suddenly had to go to the bathroom several times during dinner :) He's too smart though - Aunt Jen told him that Mommy had to take him to the bathroom if he really had to go again and, without missing a beat, he said "but Mommy can't lift me to wash my hands so you have to take me, Aunt Jen". (Two more weeks and I should get clearance to lift him again - that has been the WORST part of recovering from a c-section.) We just finished up another Superman cake :) We celebrated last weekend when Uncle Kyle and Aunt Erin were home with a much bigger Superman cake but we didn't want him to not have a cake on his actual birthday so we had a smaller version made for tonight. Who am I kidding? I really wanted another Publix cake...you can never get enough! Grams, Nana, and Aunt Jen were all here to celebrate so he got another mini-birthday party.

Cake from "big" party:


Cake from "small" party (yes, I skipped the $7.00 toy the second time around and re-used the one from the first cake - call me cheap!):


Artwork by Noah and Aunt Jen:



Daddy, Noah and Aunt Jen playing Chutes and Ladders:


Happy Birthday, Noah! Mommy and Daddy love you!

Noelle Meets The Gang (Part II)...

Aunt Erin (Uncle Kyle's Fiance):


Traci (Mommy's Friend):


Brooke (Mommy's Friend):


I'm so bummed! I went through ALL of the pictures and I don't have one of Deah or Becca and both visited us in the hospital :( We'll have to see you again soon, Deah and Becca, and get a picture!!

Noelle Meets The Gang...

Here are a few a shots of Noelle meeting some of her crazy family members (and a few friends!). I'm just learning that I can only post five pictures in a single post so I'll have to break this one up into two...

Grams (Mommy's Mom):


Nana (Daddy's Mom)


Uncle Kyle (Mommy's Brother):


Aunt Jen (Mommy's Sister):


Aunt Nikki (Daddy's Sister):


To Be Continued...

Finally! Some Pictures!

I *finally* found the time to upload all of the pictures we've taken since Noelle has been born. It was a daunting task, considering that everytime anyone had the camera near Noah he turned into the photographer. That equates to hundreds of pictures of next to nothing. We had tons of pictures of the ceiling, halves of bodies, many of the floor, lots of extreme closeups of his face...good times!
I'll start with some of the hospital pictures and post more later :)

Noah getting ready to assist with surgery:


Proud parents' first pic with their baby girl:


This pic is almost identical to Noah's first pic:


Staring at Daddy through the plexiglass:


Daddy's little girl:

Slowly Adjusting...

I really thought I'd be better about posting to this blog more frequently but I think I under-estimated just how much our lives would change with two kids! By the time I sit down to my computer, all I want to do is quickly check my e-mail, try to respond to as many people as I can, and glimpse at www.people.com (I know, I know...it's such a ridiculous habit!). I resolve to be a little bit better and hopefully that will happen once Noah starts pre-school next week.

Speaking of pre-school, Open House was this morning and we went and met his teacher. Noah is really excited about going back to St. Luke's which has made us feel better about our decision to keep him there. Honestly, it's probably not my first choice of schools for him (I flip flop on an hourly basis so sometimes it is my first choice!) but I think it will work out well for him. I was just telling Rob that there's something to be said about continuity from one school year to another. He'll be in the same place with some of the same kids whereas it would be a completely new environment for him if we switched him. I don't know, though...if StarChild has a spot open up in the near future, we'll have to give it some serious consideration. St. Luke's is more of a traditional pre-school that is mainly focused on the fundamentals while StarChild pushes academics that some would deem "developmentally inappropriate" for a three year old. Two completely different philosophies and environments. All we want is clean, safe, and fun for Noah so I guess there isn't a right or wrong. I never imagined choosing a pre-school would be this difficult of a decision!! I was happy to see that his teacher has her Master's in Reading and Literacy. The prior program that he was in at St. Luke's was more of a babysitting service and not staffed by educators. In hindsight, it was last year that we should have been seeking something different for him, not this year. Hopefully, we'll get off to a good start next week and we'll know we made the right decision for him!

Noelle is wonderful! She has her days and nights backwards so we're all exhausted but slowly getting into a grove. She's a really happy baby and doesn't do a whole lot of fussing. It's pretty easy to tell why she's upset when she does cry. Her favorite thing to do is wait until her diaper is being changed to relieve herself. We pretty much wash the changing pad covers on a daily basis (good thing we have a few!). I was beginning to think it was just me but she does it to Rob on a regular basis too :) She seems to be gaining weight at a decent clip and her legs don't look as much like "chicken legs" anymore. Her "chicken legs" nickname seems to be sticking though! A lot of people have started calling her Ms. Noelle which makes us laugh because anyone who knows Noah, knows that he goes by Mr. Noah most of the time. I find myself calling her Noella Bella most of the time. I call Noah, Noah Boa so it only seems fitting :) Speaking of Noella Bella, she's just waking up so I will have to update this later.

I have tracked down the camera cable so I promise to post pictures soon (hopefully tonight, although I make no promises!). I also need to back track and fill everyone in on a few fun things that have happened over the last week or so! More to come...

A week of being home...

We've been home for a little over a week now and I am just now finding the time (or more like the energy!) to update everyone.

Overall, Noelle is a dream baby and Noah is adjusting fairly well. Noelle is an awesome eater and is probably almost back to her birth weight (6 pounds, 13 ounces). She left the hospital at 6 pounds even, which means that she lost a little more weight than is recommended (10%). We've been to the pediatrician a few times in the last week just for weight checks and she's gaining like a champ. On Wednesday (8 days old), she was already at 6 pounds, 8 ounces. They wanted us to come back today for a final weight check before her 2 week appointment this week but I decided it was overkill because she is a non-stop eater! She will cry when she needs her diaper changed and that's about it thankfully!

Things are going really well with my recovery. I was a lot smarter about the pain meds this time around and I think that made all of the difference. With Noah, I was petrified that whatever meds I put in my body would transfer to him through my milk and somehow harm him. I'm a lot less paranoid all the way around this time so I actually listened to Dr. Peppy's advice and took his recommended dose. I'd say I'm about 90% recovered and the remaining recovery will take a while because my dear doctor (and I mean that from the bottom of my heart) decided it would be a nice gesture to tighten my stomach muscles while he was in "there".

I'll post some pictures soon...but it will require finding the camera cable ;)