Happy 1st Birthday Noah!

( I'm a bit annoyed at blogger as I had a post and now it's gone)

I cannot believe my baby's one!!! This has been one of the craziest years of my life but I wouldn't trade it for anything. 

It's true that trails make you stronger and more dependent on God. One year ago I met you and you made me a mom of TWO boys! (Double blessings!)

Noah in numbers:

1 surgery

2 bronchioscopes

3 hours of labor

4 ambulance rides

5 ER visits

6 teeth

18 lbs

34 days in the hospital

365 days of love and joy

Noah,

You bring so much joy to our lives! I can't imagine life without you. You have perfected little brother status, and love to be with Logan and doing (or destroying) whatever he's doing. You the happiest, most content boy as long as things are going your way. If not, watch out! 

You are the best cuddler, and will snuggle with anyone. 

You take your time and won't do anything until you are completely ready. But when you're ready, you are 110% ready. (Just look at your birth!)

Nursing is still your favorite, and if I try to feed you anything with a spoon you refuse and have to do it yourself. Cheese, oranges and puffs are your current favorite foods. 

While you are ringing in your 1st birthday with a fever, In really hoping that its the last sickness as an infant and not your first as a toddler. 

You have taught me so much in this past year and I'm excited and thankful we get to embark on a 2nd. 

I love you squeaker!!!

Noah 10 Months

                  January 6, 2013

Don't leave me behind!!! You want to do what everyone else is doing. At.all.times.

You love to play and giggle and have the best laugh. You are a little jokester my boy and will crack up uncontrollably. You and Logan together are the cutest little trouble makers. You adore your big brother and he adores you. It's so fun now that you two can actually play together and I know it will only get better. Nap times can be rough because you guys team up and I have found Logan in your crib with you laughing and playing. It isn't all wonderful and you fight like brothers, and little dude, you can totally hold your own and tackle and pin like a pro. And if all else fails, you scream. I'd think the world was ending many times a day based off your cry. 😀

This  month you have hit a clingy stage and whine and only want momma and hate to sleep. :-/ you also endured another ER visit complete with an overnight stay in the hospital one week before Christmas. You sure know how to scare your parents! Although you and Logan played the cute card and got Popsicles and homemade Teddy's and the hearts of all the nurses. :-)

 

Mr. Violent with his club arm (IV) so you don't hurt anyone...

Sleep is your least favorite activity and you will scream and scream. Was really hoping for your two front teeth for Christmas, but here we are 2 weeks later and they still haven't cut through! I did get you an amber teething necklace and that seems to help with your teething pain. (1.10.14 and finally cutting through)

You are a silly baby and instead of being afraid of the vacuum you think it's fun and will chase after me and sit in my way and 'pet' the vacuum so I can't move on unless I move you. 

You're mostly in 12 month clothing, and were still going strong with the cloth diapers, but you would be a size 3 if we used disposables.

You will be getting your 6 month shots on Monday so we will see how big you are, but based off your 9 month stats I'm guessing just under 18lbs and close to 27.5 inches long. You're a little guy in the 5-10% but you don't look it. I've had plenty of people ask me if you're big lol. 

I'd love to get you out of your infant carrier because its just too heavy to carry, but we've had super cold temps lately (Highs in the single digits and wind chills in the negative) but it's too convenient to bundle you up before we go out and just snap you in in a second. Having one kid to juggle putting a big coat on and off and standing out in the cold to buckle in is too much. Again, a van is looking nicer and nicer. 

You love to eat anything we are and get super mad when we don't share are sweets. Fruits and carbs are your fave. Any and every. You hate purées, but I have a bunch, so I guess I have to use them to flavor oatmeal and yogurt. 

You still nurse about 5-6 times a day, although you just(!!) stopped your night feeds, so we'll see if that drops. 

Hammer in hand, ready for any big bro attacks. 

You had your 1st Christmas and did awesome! You got tons of Little People and some cars and balls you love. A plastic drum stick is your favorite toy right now, I think because its easy to chew on.  Although I could see you as a drummer because you love to hit and bang on things. 

You also had your first real snowfall that you got to play in (unlike the snow we were suppose to get on your birth day). Lets just say you weren't a fan. 

Oh and you seem to favor your left hand, so we'll see what happens :-)

Noah 9 Months

December 6, 2013

You my love are 100% mobile and now mr. Trouble. While you started crawling right before you turned 8 months, you were still caution and contained. Now you crawl and climb and won't let anything stop you.

Getting into the kitty food and water is your favorite, and when I put up the baby hate to stop you, you threw a fit! When you get mad, you get mad! You tried to climb the gate, and when that didn't work you tried sliding your/Logan's chair over and use that! I'm telling you kid, your definitely resourceful. (And I thought your brother was/is trouble! You 2 together are going to give me grey hair!) 

Since you got quarantined to the living room  you speed crawl over to the TV stand and climb up on the DVD player and try to unplug stuff. You know your name, and you know the word 'no'. :-) Logan is a great big brother and helps redirect you. His 'no baby' and 'no Narnar' are the cutest. 

All your moving around creates a huge appetite. You are a bottomless pit. Anything and everything gets shoveled in, and you like to do it yourself. About 2 weeks ago you decided that big people good actually is good and will gobble it up. Perfect timing for your first Thanksgiving. You ate a little of everything...turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, bread etc. 

Your 9 month check up had to be rescheduled thanks to a crazy snowstorm... The second of three in a week span. 

When we finally made it (after a brief overnight hospital stay that I'll talk about in the 10 month post) you weighed in at 17lbs 9oz and just over 27 inches. You're a little peanut in the 4%!!! I don't think of you being that small, but stats don't lie. 

You're still right on the same size path as your big bro, but while I was packing up 3-6 months for him you're rocking 12 months! 

Noah 7 months

This month has been so fun!

October 6, 2013

I'm a little annoyed because I wrote everything out and it didn't save :-/

You can sit completely unsupported for however long you feel, and you're getting so close to crawling. You get so upset when you can't reach something and end up moving backwards. You know how to spin yourself around to grab something on the side of you. 

Speaking of grabbing you have great pincher skills and can feed yourself Cheerios. We are doing some baby led weaning and you do great and love when I let you feed yourself. You do bananas, avocados, sweet potatoes and baby carrots. Since we started a program this month where we get free baby food you've been eating jarred meats (which surprisingly taste exactly like it should) and some fruits and veggies that I thicken with baby cereal. If you still want to feed yourself so if I make them thick enough ill plop it on your tray so you can shovel it in yourself. It's messy but fun. You my man are a little piggy and in purée terms you eat about 8oz of fruits/veggies and 2-3oz of meat and then Cheerios! That's on top of nursing at least every 3 hours still. 

Home measurements 27 inches and 16+ lbs and you wear 6-9, 9 month and 6-12 month clothing. If you wore disposables you'd be in size 3 but in your  cloth you're on the middle setting with 4 buttons in the middle.

You got to experience some of our Fall favorites this month going to my home town fair and to Linvilla Pumpkinland (which your brother and daddy are rocking their home page!) 

Sleep is something we need to work on buddy. You hit a wall at 7pm on the dot if you aren't in bed. You've slept till 530 on a few occasions but chose not to on a normal basis. 4-430 is your favorite wake up time (and momma's least fave since Dada gets up around 515 aka just as I start to drift back to sleep). But this month we have seen 1,2,and 3 quite often. I'm banking in those teeth cutting through soon or else I don't know why you keep waking unless you just miss me. :-) You take 2 naps a day, the first around 9-930 and the second around 2-230. Although, if we have days when we're busy you just take a series of catnaps.

You love your brother and crack up at him all the time and want to do what he does. He loves you, and tries to play momma to you by constantly telling you "no" and taking stuff away. You also love the kitties and like to pet them. You are a total snuggle bear and I'll take it! You have cheeks that I could munch on all day long and a killer smile to say that you love when I do. You love your attention and will give anyone who wants one a killer grin. Bath time is another new favorite. You can sit and play with your toys and have more fun by yourself then when Logan grabs your toys, but sorry kid, its easier for momma to wash you both at once. 

Noah, you are the sweetest, smiley little guy I know! You may be small but you're my little chunkster. You can brighten anyone's day with that whole face grin that you rock. I love you little guy!

Noah Thomas 6 months

Another month gone! You are now half a year old! Your hospital time is less than 1/3 of your life, so much better than when it was the majority of your life!

I feel like you're a big boy and we get comments on how big you are all the time, but you're actually really small (???) according to percentages at the doctor. 
You are 15lbs 2.5oz and almost 25.79 inches long! Which puts you at 10% for weight and 13% for height! The funny thing is that you are only 1oz and less than a tenth of an inch bigger than Logan at this age! 

Come here monkey

Mmm monkey taste yummy (or at least feels good on the gums)

I will wrestle you monkey

Love you Mr. Smiles!

Noah Thomas 4 Months

July 6, 2013

Well mister big boy, you're another month older and bigger!

You had you're follow up with ENT finally and they said you look great! There is a less than 5% narrowing in your throat! Yay! I stopped all your meds a little before that because we were both d.o.n.e. with them. Once all those steroids were out of your system man have you grown!!! We don't have your appointment till Thursday but I'm guessing your about 25+ inches long and around 15 pounds. ( 14lbs 6.7oz and 24.51 inches) It's funny because that's what Logan was a 6 months! I'm not used to lugging such a big baby around! 

At least you are strong too. You still love standing and started using your exersaucer this month with a pillow under your feet since you can juuust barely touch the ground. I think you like the freedom. You also rolled from your tummy to your back once. You hate your tummy and while we don't put you on it a lot, you spend your time trying to crawl, not rolling. You're getting there, I find you spinning yourself around and  in a different than I laid you. While you never rolled back to belly (in guessing because you hate being on your belly) you can control your movements extremely well and will purposefully roll to your side to hang out before deciding to roll back. 

You hate to be alone. You love being in your Baby Hawk being carried around by momma. (Actually Dada put it on once too)

You are all smiles and have the best giggle ever! You love your big brother and can't wait to play with him.

You rock at grabbing thing and pull your binky in and out of your mouth all the time. You also talk a lot.

The monthly shots:

Photobomb Brother

Compare Logan at 4 months here

Noah 3 Months

Killer eyes

And a killer grin

My baby's 3 months already! And for the first time we get to do the at home monthly photo shoot. Both 1 and 2 months were done quick on the iPhone in the hospital.

I know I have lots of catching up to do, like his birth story, and hospital saga and Logan's 2nd birthday! (How is he 2 already!?!??!)

Noah,

You are such a bright-eyed, happy baby! You rarely fuss, and when you do it's a 90% chance it was something your brother did. The other 10% is because I didn't feed you soon enough :-)

You are still eating about every 2 hours but at least once a day stretch in a 3 hour. At night you are finally up to a 6-7 hour stretch, which is so nice!

You've been going to sleep between 830-930 and if it's on the earlier side of the 8 o'clock hour I'll wake you to feed around 10 when I go to bed. Then you wake up around 4am, eat and go right back to sleep till 5ish when you start to stir with Dada, and I give you your binky and you are back out until 6 when you eat again and then are up for the morning. Logan is normally up around 6-630 as well, so we have an early start to our day around here. You are still in your bassinet in the pack and play in our room. Brother refuses to move out of the crib into the big boy bed. I'm thinking you are ready for your own room soon though, as soon as you drop your 4 am feed.

When you were born I thought you were going to be an awesome sleeper because that's all you wanted to do, now, not so much. You go down for your 1st nap around 930 and depending what we are doing it might only be 1/2 hour long. You love your little cat naps and will take many throughout the day. Long naps are typically only when we are out and about. Most of your naps are spent in your bouncy seat so you can be outside since that's were brother wants to be 24/7 now. If we are inside it'll be in the swing, or occassionally on your play mat.

You have been awesome at tummy time. Even though you didn't get much of it your first 6 weeks of life, you are rocking it like no other. You have yet to roll, yet I will find you in a completely new position then how I laid you. You look like your trying to crawl, and your feet can push, but you haven't figured out the arm thing yet. You have a few more months to figure that out :-)

You can also sit and stand like whoa if momma or someone helps stabilize you. We just broke out the Bumbo seat today and I think you like the freedom. Just like your brother, you like to be facing out and seeing what's going on. Very nosy.

You aren't a fan of bath time, although now that you lay in your little tub it's a bit better that a sponge bath, but as soon as I start to wash you start to scream. Logan loves to help, and Kobe loves to watch.

You babble all the time and laugh too. I really think you understand us sometimes. You have an awesome sense of humor and your facial expressions kill us. You are very animated. One time I told you "no yogurt" because your brother was pitching a fit for yogurt and you immediately went from a happy baby to crying, just like he was. Then the other day we were laying in the yard on the blanket and L was playing with a ballball on you and lost it and blamed you. We didn't see it until later when I went to move you and asked if hid it from him and the smirk on your face told it all.

You love being in your Moby wrap, nice and close to momma and it puts you to sleep everytime. That's how we go shopping just the 3 of us. Logan gets the cart and you get the wrap.

You are just about out of 0-3 and 3 month clothes and have been wearing 3-6 and 6 month no problem. I'm sad to put the away yet since you didn't get to wear them much. You have been in cloth diapers about a month now and still wear size 1 in disposables, but really should be in a 2, but we have a bunch that need to get used up before that happens.

No clue how big you really are, we'll find out in a week when we go back to CHOP for hopefully your last check. I'm guessing around 13 pounds and close to 23 inchs.


And if you want to compare, here's Logan at 3 months.
(Which reminds me that you are a crazy drooler as well, and love YOUR fist!)

And photos :-)

The road were on

It has been 6 weeks that our simple, 'easy', blessed life took a complete 180. Not to say that we haven't been blessed in the past 6 weeks, because we have! So much so! God has taught us and grown us so, so much and has used his people in doing so. It is amazing to see the body of Christ rise up and see His people answer His call to serve.

6 weeks later and countless nights in the hospital and so many more sleepless nights, I am beyond tired. Not just physically tired but emotionally and mentally as well. It's draining watching your baby fight for his life and then continue to struggle and go through test after test and have risky procedures and there is nothing you can do. No time to really stop and think, just relying on the doctors. It helps to know that we are in the best hands with the best doctors and nurses in the best children's hospital in the nation. But it doesn't make it any easier.
I just want (need!) some rest.

Yes, it would be nice to get a solid 8 hours of sleep, but I know with a newborn that doesn't happen and I was prepared for that. I want rest from everything else. I want to go. Somewhere. Anywhere. Away from here, away from worries, away from everyday life. I just want a break a chance to breath and relax.
If it wasn't for Gods strength to carry me through and the prayers of others I would have broken down a long, long time ago. Every time I feel that I can't go on, can't do it any more, I get an extra boost. It might be from a text or phone call, or news from a doctor or just something from deep in me from the Holy Spirit.

Guys, prayer is real! Not that I didn't know that before, or believe it, but its different when you actually physically FEEL it. I can't explain it, I just hope that all of you get to experience it some day. I don't wish anything bad on you, but its awesome to be able to feel the love of others and God.

I want to thank y'all for helping to carry us through this time and for your continued prayers as its not over yet. I look forward to the day it is though! And an super thankful that we will hit a time when this is in our past. So many families we meet don't get to be that lucky.

This post went completely a different way than I had originally thought. I wanted to talk about missed milestones, and not having a 1 or 2 month photo shoot from being in the hospital. At least I have a good excuse for not having as many baby photos for Noah. :-)

Speaking of photos...

It Sucks

There's no way around it, it just plan sucks. No parent should have to go through it, yet as I look around so, so many are. It's just not fair. Babies are meant to be cuddled and loved on, not strapped to 20 thousand machines and getting poked and prodded every hour.

Having another kid at home makes it that much harder. How can a parent chose between 2 kids? You have a newborn fighting to breath and who should be solely reliant on you, and you can't do a thing for them. And then you have a toddler who is aware that you aren't around and is misplaced from his home and routine. How do you choose?

You have doctors who freak you out by throwing everything at you and then don't tell you things that do matter.

And then you think about the future and get yourself into a whole other
mental mess.

There are so many verses out there about worrying and how God doesn't give you more than you can handle, which are nice truths to know and hold on to but that doesn't change how you feel as a parent

Very fitting that this happen over the Easter holiday when God had to watch his son suffer. How Jesus took on all our crap because of how much He loves us because there is nothing more I would love to do right now than take this away from Noah.

Thanks for listening to me vent and for all your prayers. They truly are being felt.

Noah this morning on his new CPAP machine getting a sonogram of his heart.

How's it Going?

That's the question I get all the time now. Adjusting to life with a newborn can be challenging. Adjusting to life with a newborn AND a toddler? It's a different kind of challenging. It's more about prioritizing and learning how to juggle the needs of 2 kids than the initial figuring out what to do.

To me it's been an easier change than when when we just had Logan. Now I didn't say it was easy, but a different kind of challenging. Noah's easy. He eats and sleeps (well up till a day or 2 ago) it's the testing 2 year old that I have my battles with.

Not getting my required 8-9 hours of sleep doesn't help my patience with him either. I really can't complain. I've had it easy. People were shocked that I had both boys out on my own by day 8. For me it's easier to get out than stay in.

It isn't a cakewalk though. We have our problems. Take today for example. I think Noah is going through a growth spurt. In the 12 hours from last night to this morning he ate 8 times! And every time I laid him down he was awake within 5 minutes wanting to cuddle. Needless to say this momma didn't get much sleep.
As he started to stir this morning Logan started yelling for me to get him out of his crib. So I freed L and decided I would quickly go to the bathroom and put my contacts in before I fed the baby again. Noah didn't like that and was full out screaming by the time i picked him up to changed his diaper. In the mean time Logan let both cats in the room and they were wreaking havoc wanting their breakfast. Of course something was bugging my contact so bad I could barely open my left eye that I had to put a starving, screaming baby back in his bed while I tried to clean off my contact with 2 cats on the bathroom counter begging ie. rubbing all over me for food.
Then out of nowhere Logan starts crying and grabbing his diaper yelling ouch!!!

I shove the contact back in my eye, scoop up a screaming baby and follow the toddler across the hall to his room for a change. As I'm changing him I notice something isn't right. We decide its best to have some naked time. I feed the baby and put him in his swing still awake and then feed L and myself. As I finish baby wants to eat, again.
Toddler wants to sit on potty and I'm a happy momma. 5 minutes later he wants down without doing anything. Next thing I know there is pee running down his leg and all over the floor. Time to clean up.

Everything seems chill for a moment and I decide to cut up the pineapple that has been on our counter all week. 2 minutes later I hear a crash and hear Logan crying. I run out to see blood on the couch, on his face and the floor! Thank goodness it wasn't serious and he was asking for the pineapple before I had him all cleaned up.

Did I mention that was all before 10am? Oh and that the cats spilt not one but two cups of water?

So when you ask how we're doing and I say "good", I'm not lying and it doesn't mean we have it all together. It just means that in comparison to how it could be going its good. That and I haven't shed any tears yet that day. :-)

These 2 make everything worth it :-)

What did your kids (human or fur) do today?

Noah Thomas

Early Wednesday morning on March 6th we welcomed Noah Thomas into our family! He's a big boy just like his brother weighing in at 8pounds 10ounces and 21 inches. He was considered 4 days early but going by his size I think his ultrasound due date was more accurate making him 1 day late.
It was a very quick delivery but you'll have to stay posted for the birth story.

We are completely in love!!!