new pictures

ok- here are some pics that we ave taken over the last month or so. the water ones are from a water park here that noah loves..... he can't get enough of the waterslide. other ones are from a visit from the jones family and their kiddos melia and liam and then just some from around the house- and of course noah and the tent that daddy got for him. this lovely blue piece of "furniture" had graced our kitchen for about a week until i couldn't handle it anymore. now it is down in the family room and if we are down there we are definitely hanging out in it. hope you enjoy them. we'll talk later. i'm thankful for:
- MOPS meeting today- spa day!

-noah's great afternoon nap so i could get some stuff done

-it's tuesday so daddy gets home early

monkey bizness, monkey towels and mohawks

well, here i am not keeping up with the blogging. so we have done a lot and i have lots of pics to post. that's what the next entry will be- no writing to read- just some pics to tell you what we have been up to. we have had lots of visitors over the last few weeks. some friends of aaron's stopped for the night on their way to california- they drove from nc all the way to ca- no thank you! good thing their kiddos are so sweet, and we are glad to say they made it safe and sound. then g&g k. came and stayed for the weekend. so great to see them- and noah really enjoyed having someone with lots of energy to play with him all weekend. we did some re-arranging which seems to have satisfied my "need for a bigger house" for the time being. trying to figure out how to fit another person in this house has been challenging- but i know it can be done. really what we need is simply less stuff. then this past weekend grandpa h. came and stayed for the weekend. we went to open gym on friday afternoon with nana and our friends krysta and rylan, then we had reagan's birthday party at monkey bizness. what a busy friday for us. the rest of the weekend was spent relaxing, grandpa reading books to little man and just hanging out. some of you live in snowier areas- i understand- but the 4+ inches that fell last night was less than welcome- that's for sure. i am so ready to get outside- and ready for the pool to open up. i don't think i ever really minded winter until noah came- and i can only imagine the fun next winter will bring trying to gather up 2 kiddos to take out. we'll wait and worry about that one later. anyway.... i think that's all the updating i have for now. i am excited to say that noah is eating better- turns out that everyone was right- when you feed less and less baby food one gets hungry enough to eat what his parents are eating (within reason of course...) have a great sunday- and i'll post those pics here soon. almost forgot-

i am thankful for:
-noah finally eating real food

-a reassuring appt at the dr and a strong heartbeat of 165

-finally not feeling as tired

top ten reasons i knew i was pregnant

surprise, surprise...... we are pregnant. truly- a complete shock. i should have known though.
1. the obvious...... i missed the lucky day
2. i cry at everything- then i cry again at myself crying
3. anything that smells drives me crazy
4. i could eat a grilled cheese sandwich or cereal for every meal- on the random occasion that i feel like i could eat
5. my house looks like world war 3 has hit
6. laundry seems to be a thing of the past...... we're wearing our summer clothes at this point- we've just layered them
7. poor noah has spent 6 of the last 7 days in jammies all day- much like myself. the one day he was dressed was because his daddy felt sorry for him and got him dressed
8. i would love to have a 4 day nap- i have recently accepted that i may have to settle for an hour here and there
9. need to get the bigger bras out
10. one minute i love my husband and think i should thank him for this wonderful gift and the next i don't think i can stand to even look at him- poor guy.

i really have good intentions of keeping this up to date- i feel a little more settled at this point in time- with some direction at least. glad we have a date now- sept 1st is what we're going with at this time. we'll see. back to work i go. have a great day.

i'm thankful for
1. a healthy baby brother or sister for noah in my tummy
2. a relatively patient husband (usually)
3. the time we got to spend with my dad and gail this weekend while they visited

paradise park

a good friend of mine told us about this awesome place near us called paradise park. it is so much fun- and noah loves it! this is the second time we have been there. we went there with my sister in law and her kiddos when they were here a few weeks ago. they have a ton of stuff to keep him busy- and a great price to go with it. today my mom and i took him out there and i would have to say that the slide was his favorite part- he loves to go down and then climb back up. some pics from our fun day.

i'm thankful for:

-having my mom and terry so close that they are able to spend a lot of time with noah
-that it rained today instead of snowed
-naptime!

back from a break.....

i have no good excuses, no reasons to have not stayed caught up on the blog- so i will try to sum up the last few weeks. had an amazing time visiting family and friends- as you all know i love the holidays. noah was a lot of fun this year too although i think he was more into eating the paper than what was actually in it. i have also come to realize that he may have acquired my patience from the gene pool. doesn't exactly have any...... especially when it comes to toys in packages with a million twisty ties holding it in there! we had a great christmas with our family here, then traveled to il to visit family there and then had another great week with more family after that. my sister in law, her hubby and their kiddos stayed for a week and celebrated aaron's 30th birthday with us and new years! a full house- but lots of fun. we had a surprise party for aaron which we somehow pulled off. he sure made it challenging though. it will be awhile before i attempt that again- so if anyone hears me even thinking about it- remind me that i said that! i got this amazing new camera from my entire family so i have been taking lots and lots of pics. still have some learning to do- but i practice often! it will be hard to pick which to share. it's a goal of mine to keep caught up on this for all our family and friends- starting today :)
here's hoping everyone had a great holiday and are starting the year off right. the pics above are a few of what we have been up to lately. i think i will add a thankful list- just a few each day- at the end of my posts to remind myself of everything i have been given (even the little things) so that when i print this out someday for my kiddos they will know how truly lucky we are. so here goes things list #1:
i am thankful for :
-the means to blog and keep up with family and friends
-a sweet little boy who makes me smile every minute
-a great start to a new year

um.... never trust a naked baby

so- as the title states i was a bit too trusting of noah's diaperless butt- and i paid for it. not as bad as it could have been- but a giant wet spot on my couch none the less. that's right..... wet. poor thing is cutting two more molars and drooling to beat the band. with that comes a nasty diaper rash that he has had only once before. since he seems to have super sensitive skin we take the daily precautions and change often, wear "super duper diaper doo" religiously and can only wear pampers- but in return we have warded off that nasty diaper rash. usually. well, i gave him a bath last night and followed the dr's instructions. "after his bath just let him be naked for awhile. the air is the best remedy for diaper rash. he will probably have peed already in the tub and so the chance of him peeing again is slim. keep a close eye and all will be well." not the case here at our house. i left him alone hanging next to the couch for 5 seconds only to come back around the corner to find him peeing on the couch side and the floor- a lovely addition to our decor. i write this just so i never forget it. there is a picture- which i think i can probably scrapbook after some creative editing- but would be borderline baby porn if i put it on the internet. plus.... i think you outgrow the cute naked pics by age one- right?? none the less- i can laugh about it now. plus he just looked so innocent and happy- chewing on his shampoo bottle. (we pick our battles :) oh well, another memory i wouldn't have without my sweet baby noah that i know will always make me smile. have a great day.

bunko night!

bunko girls- absolutely love them! we meet only once a month and i can't hardly wait for each one of them. this great game with dice that allows us to talk the entire time is fantastic- who wouldn't love it?? in the summer and in december we set the game aside and have a much deserved girls night out. this time we hit up the cheesecake factory down at the plaza. great food and great conversation- how could one go wrong? there are a few girls that couldn't make it and we greatly missed them! we have had our bunko group line up since april of '06. we have had lots of changes in the last year and a half..... new babies, new houses, new friendships...... and lots of fun. some nights are calmer than others- but it's true- we can liven things up once in awhile- especially at lauren's crazy place. giddy-up stephanie!

christmas at crown center

i have never been down to crown center during the holidays so i was really excited to go on thursday with some friends from work and their kiddos last week. it was crazy busy and a little hard to keep track of everyone but it was a lot of fun. noah even sat on santa's lap for long enough to snap a picture..... no smiles or anything- but better than what we got last time we tried! noah loved the crayola soft play area and didn't want to leave at all. not such a fan of the train ride around the christmas tree though. he sat on ian's lap and made it about a lap and a half and then was pouring buckets of tears. they actually had to stop the train and let him off and then continue along. fortunately he got over it and we continued on. i think they all had a pretty good time and there were few tears- so it was a success, right? we have got a busy few weeks ahead of us so hopefully i can keep all things in perspective- and my sanity- before it's all said and done. be back later.

still not sleeping

ok- well- as i sit here on the couch watching 'the polar express' (a favorite of mine- love it) i am wide awake. so, i remembered that i had some pics of noah that i could share. he has found a new "toy" he pulled out shortly before thanksgiving that he can't be without. he carries it everywhere, even tries to eat it several times a day. i feel slightly bad for the snowman and friends from hallmark. some may recognize this piece of decor- you had to buy three cards and pay 12.95 last year to get it. hallmark..... they get me everytime i am in there! anyway- it plays jingle bell rock when you press the button which noah mastered turning on and off on day one. aaron loves it! however, the carrying it around has taken some practice. he's pretty steady on those wobbly feet most of the time, but give him some extra weight and the balance is all off. the photos are of him and his new carry along friends. he stared at me evey time he tried to bite it- i think looking for me to tell him no- but what's a little furry tree gonna do to anyone :) i'm off again to bed- and if i can't sleep this time i am going to watch ELF, another favorite. i mean- seriously- i start watching these movies in anticipation for christmas around july- you would think i might be sick of it! but- no- not really........

still awake....

it's no shocker that i am still awake. this working nights thing is great in theory. less time away from noah, more time to spend with him- it's like i am hardly away from him- which i love. the "best of both worlds" is what i hear people refer to it as (i don't think they live in both worlds). however, the trade off for this is pure exhaustion. my body simply can not adjust to the back and forth that working nights and living days requires. even though i only work two nights a week- it is still so challenging. however, my other option is far less appealing and thus i will stay on the night shift and maybe i can learn to make myself go to sleep..... at least we have power tonight- which is 100% better than what we had last night. since we live where it doesn't snow so much- it just "ices"- we get to deal with lots of ice- and usually it seems to be all at one time. we spent last evening at my parents house to keep warm since they had power- and we didn't (did i already mention that??) we had a great meal thanks to my mom and then i headed to work and everyone else played some pool and the wii- which is totally addicting for those who have never played before! it sounded like they had a lot of fun. we are so very lucky to have family so close to us. noah and i are heading down to crown center tomorrow morning with some gals from work and their kiddos for some much needed "out of the house play time." for anyone in the area who has been there, i think it is such a great place at christmas time. so very festive and all lit up- i can't help but walk around feeling great. i can even ignore the shoves from those too busy to enjoy it, the dirty looks from people who can't stop to enjoy the true excitement of little children and the crowded walkways- i just love this time of the year. i hope that my children can grow up to know what christmas is really about- and i hope that i can teach them the same values that we were taught growing up. i love the extra time spent with family and friends, the tree, the lights- i could go on and on. for those of you who know me well i know you are not surprised to read this at all! i promised myself i would attempt to go to sleep at 12:55 and so i better stick to it. maybe i can get a load of laundry folded first...... thanks for checking in with us!

well, the excitement of the snow has worn off, as we are now in the middle of what promises to be a wonderful sheet of ice in the end. yes, thus is winter in kansas. i so miss the SNOW, although it is nice that winter ends before may.... only have two projects left to finish so that rocks! had a busy weekend working- no fun- but it wasn't too bad there so works out in the end i guess. plus, it gives aaron and noah some one on one time which i think they enjoy. it makes for along weekend for aaron- but i know he will look back and be glad he had this time with him (i hope anyway!) above are some pics from when we headed out in the little bit of snow we did get a few days ago. the jacket, yes a bit big, but hoping it lasts all year- maybe into next! because the jacket is a little big, he has trouble walking- and may have face planted a few times- but didn't seem to mind. it wasn't very warm so we didn't stay out long, but long enough for him to get wet and eat a little snow. hope everyone has had a great weekend- be back soon!

finally some snow!

it finally snowed here! i have been waiting and waiting- since last year really. i worked last night and got to sleep a little late thanks to my mom and woke up to a bright white snow covered yard. noah- he's not so sure about the snow. my step-dad terry brought some in to him on a plate and he wanted nothing to do with it. i'll post the pics tomorrow of him outside. however, because it was on a plate, he may have thought i was going to make him eat it. he absolutely refuses anything that is wet and textured. the struggle continues in our lives to get this child to eat anything other than baby food. unless it is grilled cheese- forget it! bring on the jars is what he says (in his own language of course). you would think that he would be tired of the same old food all the time- i mean really- there isn't that much variety out there. most foods he won't even try to like. so frustrating! since day one feeding my child has been one struggle after another. seems to work out in the end though so i guess we'll let him decide when he wants to switch over to "real food." not that he is starving by any means.... terry reminds me often that he could live on his thighs alone for at least a week. so, much as we do with the bath, we keep trying! what else can you do? thanks to the weather it finally feels like christmas time. i even finished up the majority of the shopping i had left to do. feels good! can't wait to get together with our families and see everyone. even in the mass chaos that almost always encompasses the holidays i cherish each moment. i just love the sound of the kids running around and playing and catching up with family. still finishing up those christmas gifts i need to make so i better sign off. ta-ta for now as my grandpa always said!

i'm in ..... (i think)

ok, so as of the first post i guess i have decided i love this deal..... i have put together several blogs in my mind already. as i do the day to day things i think of all these things i should be saying as i go along. tonight for example, as some of you may know, it is a challenge to give my child a bath. he hates the tub, hates the bath ring, hates all things that are not the sink. how did this happen??? anyway, i persevere, and continue to try the tub, much like i continue to try real people food, (an entirely different story) and tonight he actually seemed to enjoy it. not sure exactly what has changed. my technique is the same, the toys are the same, water temp the same..... it goes on and on. anyway what is important here is that he actually liked it. i don't even care why at this point. these are some pics showing how much he actually liked it. i am as shocked as you!! none the less- hopefully this will be our new bath location- otherwise we are going to have to find a bigger sink for our kitchen. goodnight all......

first post

well this is the first post. who knows if i will keep this up! a few of my friends have started one- and so i thought i would give it a try. seems strange to journal for all to read- but maybe i'll like it. we'll see how much nap time allows me to do this. isn't that how it works though- for me anyway- i am racing around trying to get all things done in the 1-2 hours that my little one sleeps. what i would really love to do is nap myself, or work on the many christmas gifts i have envisioned making this year. better get on it though, headed out to see santa claus at the mall when he wakes up with my mom. why do i feel the need to do this each year? the question remains- will he actually sit there? he was so little last year, and i know my niece has never liked to see him and she is 4. we'll have to wait and see!