To Georgia in an RV

Monday morning we left around 6:00 for Georgia in an RV with 9 people (Mom, Kevin, Randi, Katie, Noah, Taylor, Hannah, Zach and myself) and Bella the dog.  I tried to transfer Noah to the RV and keep him asleep but he woke up as soon as I set him in there.  Pretty much everyone else went back to sleep but him.  He did this on the way there and back.  The way back was much worse we left at 4:30 (which would of been 3:30 am Illinois time) and he stayed awake then as well.  The trip usually takes about 10 hours but in an RV and hitting traffic in Atlanta due to Monday night football it took us over 12 hours.  Lets just say we were all so ready to be there.  The RV made the trip so much nicer though being able to have so much room and to be able to move around a little more and made it easier to keep Noah entertained since he could watch everyone.  On the way down towards the end Noah was done and we were doing everything we could, we sang kid songs for probably the last 30-40 minutes it seemed like anyway.  Overall though he did great for that long of a ride and being so active these days.  I felt so bad though when he just reached out for me to take him out and I couldn't.  On the way back we were getting desperate again and we did So Big and the wave for him over and over and someone  caught a picture.

Heading out Monday morning

The wave

Noah watching us entertain him

Once we got to Georgia our grandparents were waiting for us.  It was so nice to see them, it had been since June since we had seen them last and that was a quick visit.  Noah has changed so much since they last saw him.  So we hung out for a little bit before putting Noah to bed way past his bedtime.  Poor guy was messed up the whole time between having to sleep somewhere besides his house, the time change and his schedule being off from traveling. 

Our aunt and uncles came over as well and visited for a little bit.  Over the next few days we had fun playing games, hanging out, eating and having another Christmas dinner and gift exchange.  

All the girls playing Yahtzee

 One night we went to look at lights and grandma insisted she was going to stay with Noah and put him to bed.  He went down for her pretty good too, well thats what she told me anyway, haha. 

 For some reason Noah was grandma Shelley's buddy this week. Everytime he saw her he wanted to go to her.  One day mom took him on the screened in porch where there was music and they danced, clapped and had all sorts of fun.  He loves music so much and usually claps, moves his head, or taps his foot when he hears it, so cute!

Grandma and Noah dancing and looking at the dog inside

After they danced for awhile standing up he just sat on her lap for so long clapping and moving his head to the music, I caught the cutest smile.  Look at those teeth, his top ones crack me up so far apart, haha!

 

 Later on we got a group girl picture.  Still missing some people but a lot were there

 Noah with his great grandma and great grandpa Weeks

 Randi and Kate gelled his hair, so cute and funny!  Can't get over how cute he is!

  Overall we had a great trip but it sure was nice to get home yesterday, unpack, do laundry and relax and spend time at our house.  Noah was so funny when we got here.  I had never seen him so full of energy.  He was all over the place crawling to every room and checking everything out.  He was moving from room to room and toy to toy.  I think he is a homebody and loves being at his house.  I loved seeing him so happy.  Then after we had been home for awhile his daddy got home and he hadn't seen his daddy in 4 days.  When Matthew walked in, he said his name and he looked up trying to figure out where he was and once he saw him he smiled so big, moved his head around, clapped and started tapping his foot.  He loves his daddy so much and you could tell he was excited to see him.  I love seeing things like that in our little boy!   



Marathon of Christmas Get Togethers

Wow, what a week of Christmas celebrations we had.  In three days we had 7 places to be, what a crazy few days.  It not only was tiring for Noah for but for me too.  I was just so worn out by Sunday night.  It was great to see all our families just would have been nice to be more spread out.  We have so much to be thankful for and this time of year truly reminds me of it and how blessed we are with so many great family members.  My family has gotten even more complicated in the last year and half and it stresses me out to think about Noah and how confused he will be by how much family he  has but I  just  plan on telling him how special he is to have so many people love him.  On Christmas eve we went to moms and had Christmas there with her, Kevin and the kids.  We tried to get a family picture but lately it's really hard to catch busy body Mr. Noah with his face towards the camera and smiling so here is the best we got. 

 Noah checking out his new Elmo, he loves to watch it but just wasn't sure about holding or touching him.

 Christmas eve night we went to the Jones and celebrated with Matthew's parents and siblings.  I love getting the little ones together.  I can't wait until next year when we have Cole hanging out and playing with the boys too.  I just thought it was so cute to see the twin brothers and their little ones playing. 

 Noah opening his neat 4-1 Winnie the Pooh toy, it's so neat you can make it like a rocking horse, something for them to sit in and play with a car they can put their feet down and walk with, or my favorite it has a handle you can put on it from the back and you can walk and push them!  So excited for that one! 

 Noah sitting in the toy

 Noah and Micah playing ball, or fighting over who gets to play with the ball

 On Christmas morning we went to dad and Dinah's, dad was giving Noah a horsey ride.  He did enjoy it, you can just barely see his smile

 Noah loving his ball popper from Aunt Randi, when he starts walking I have a feeling I will be listening to this annoying sound a lot. 

 Later on, on Christmas day we went to see dad, Angie, Brett and Taylor at Angie's family.  After opening presents there, dad read Noah the book that they got for him.  He was getting very tired and loves cuddling with Grandpa Bob.  Last time they were together he rocked him to sleep (not something he lets anyone do) I love it when he is sweet for people.  After that we went home for him to sleep before going to the Nuelle's that night.  I didn't get any pictures there, I lost steam in my picture taking, so I apologize for not getting pictures from all of our get togethers. 

Sunday we had 2 more family events and then I had to get ready that night and pack for our early Morning departure to Georgia for our final Christmas. 

We are so thankful for the many, many wonderful gifts from all of our family and especially all the neat toys for Noah ( I think I was more excited than he was for most of them).

Baby Steps

So I've never really known when to say Noah has had his first steps.  He has had some here and there after we have let go but maybe just one foot would move and he would dive towards us and sometimes maybe two little foot movements.  However, today he definitely started taking some steps.  This morning he did it for Matthew and then did it for me and a bunch of other times throughout the day.  It works best if we would try to have him walk to someone.   He still will just take a few and usually dive but he definitely had some clear steps going on multiple times today.  I can't believe our little baby boy will be walking soon.  He is so cute now with his little walker and his cute little butt.  He will be walking before we know it now!  He also has been standing so much on his own lately so I figured we were getting closer!  Try to get a video sometime, but it's about impossible to catch  I would imagine.

Noah's First of Many Christmas Celebrations

Today our family celebrated Christmas.  Over the next week, Noah will be going to at least 8 Christmas family get together's and Friday and Saturday we will probably need to leave our house by 7:30, so since Noah doesn't normally get up until around 7 and we wanted to do a Christmas here just with us, we decided today was the perfect day since Matthew and I were both off and we could do it first thing this morning.  Last night Santa came and set out some presents for Noah and filled his stocking as well.  (This will be a little detailed because a lot of info I put on here is for Noah's baby book)  In his stocking Noah got his favorite snack, Yogurt Melts, new pacifiers, some baby food in his favorite fruits and a belt which his daddy was excited about!

After the stocking Matthew sat with Noah and helped him begin opening his presents.  To my surprise he actually did rip some of the paper, he needed help to of course but did do a little.

I had so much fun helping Santa pick out presents for Noah.  I was definetly a lot more excited than he was, I was just waiting and waiting for him to get up this morning.  I knew I couldn't expect any reaction from him since he's so young but I very much look forward to the upcoming years and all the excitement that he will have.  Anyways this year from Santa, Noah got a Winnie the Pooh laptop ( he loves our laptops and loves to open and shut them and sure enough that was the first thing he did with this one, didn't care to much about all the buttons and lights)

A basketball hoop, which he already loves.  It has spots up top for the balls and the middle one puts the ball through the hoop and the side ones drop the ball to the bottom and then they roll it, he giggles at it when they do that, so cute!  Also he is such a big boy, he kept letting go of it and was standing all alone without getting scared, I was impressed.  There were many times he stood for quite a while today.  

 Then he also got a toy for the bath (so cool, it squirts water and makes a fountain in the bath, Noah wasn't very impressed though he still wanted the old Disney rubber character toys),  a wooden box play center with different activities on each side(  I wanted something that wasn't electronic, I think they need more simple and old school games and not always toys that light up and make so much noise), Paint and Learn Easel, baby CD Player and a ball pit.  

Playing with some paper

Loving the ball pit, he loves balls more than anything.  He was so cute sitting in there moving his legs like crazy to get the balls to move. 

One problem with the ball pit was when he got too close to the elephant head, he wasn't a fan when it got in his space.  He would push it back and then it would just come right back. 

The ball pit is huge, we haven't figured out where it will be kept because it is a very large item.  Matthew asked me what I was thinking, but I couldn't help it since I just knew he would love it so much.  

At the end of the day when it was time for bath, I finally remembered to try and get some pictures with the Santa hat I bought him awhile ago so we made an attempt.  An attempt because it didn't go well, Noah would not leave the hat on for a second, as soon as we put it on his hand was already on its way to get it off. I snuck a smile in between trying the hat.  

 Our next idea was to try and distract him so we put Veggie Tales on which he loves and then he stared at the TV so we finally got one with the hat but only with him staring at the TV.  It still didn't really work because even though he was so engrossed as soon as the hat went on he would reach up for it.  Oh well!  Maybe another year!

New Word

This afternoon after we had gotten home from church, Matthew took Noah's shoes off and was playing with him.  He decided to point at Noah's shoes and say shoes over and over again.  It wasn't too long and out came the word shoes from his sweet little baby mouth.  At first it was just some sssshhh, then it turned into a baby version of shoes, it was so cute.  Matthew was so funny, because he was extremely excited that he had just taught him a new word.  After we were done with them he was playing with a ball and I asked him where his shoes were, he went and grabbed them.  Can't believe how big he is getting!

Food Issues

Noah has just really loved books these days, I love reading to him since he's not a lovey little boy (however he is turning into more and more of one) and then  I can kind of sit all close next to him and sneak kisses every now and then.  Wednesday while we were home with dad, I had him on the couch and he just sat back, relaxed and listened to books, it was great!  We went through quite a few and even the started the stack over.

Anyways the real reason for this post is my son is strong willed and I mean very strong willed, there have been many things we know he can do he just chooses not to, why I'm not sure.  Well feeding himself is one.  He has had a texture issue ever since we started baby food.  I started him on baby food and then tried to make some of my own, I got rejected because the texture wasn't the same as what he was used too.  I also started the regular baby cereal and then had got some already in little packs for when he went to Nana Jill's well I guess he got used to those and wouldn't take the other anymore.  I mean it's been one thing after another.  Now he might love something one day but decide the hates it or the texture the next day.  He can make himself gag until he throws up.  It's quite frustrating because you never know what he will want/like each day.  I had talked to the doctor at his 9 month appointment and she said well he probably has a texture thing he will just have to be the one to explore it and feed himself.  Well that is where our next problem comes in, he refuses to feed himself.  I have tried putting every sort of food on his tray, he either pushes it off, picks it up and drops it off, or tries to hand it to me.  This last week I have really been trying to get him to do feed himself his snacks.  The one thing that does crack me up is that if I hold one of his snacks on my hand and set it out, he will bring his mouth down to it and try to eat if off my hand, he just will not grab it. This last week I have taken his yogurt melts and put it in his hand and forced his hand to go to his mouth, it kind of works because he then pushes it in but  I still have to make him do it each time.  I know he can do it, just not sure why he won't.  Well Wednesday we had been trying all day and had him in his room, he was playing with a shape puzzle and he kept putting all the pieces in his mouth so Matthew said why don't we get a graham cracker and put it in the square spot and see if he will eat it then, so I tried that, and 

As soon as he picked it up, he felt the difference and threw it down.  Didn't even make it to his mouth.  Our plan had been foiled by him, he outsmarted us again.  It's amazing how often this happens!

Cheesy little grin while he was enjoying his puzzle pieces 

Later on in the day, having some fun walking with his shorter but still crazy hair

If anyone has any suggestions to get Mr. Noah to feed himself we are open to try anything!  

We love him so much but boy he sure is quite a character and has always been a puzzle to figure out since he was born!  

Visit from Santa Claus

Last night a little after 7:30 our doorbell rings, I went to answer the door and to my surprise it was Santa Claus.  Now I wasn't expecting Santa Claus and really had to think for a minute and listen to the voice to figure out who was really there but it didn't take too long.  He immediately asked for Noah and we had put him to bed not too long before.  I figured though since he came to see Noah, I had better get him up, plus I didn't think he would be fast asleep since he wasn't in there long.  I went in got him out of bed and brought him into the living room, it took him a few minutes to wake up and then he saw Santa.  We got a video so you can see how it went.  Now I'm not sure how he would do it he would have been wide awake so we will have to try it again when he's not half asleep and see if it goes any better.  After the video we have I took him back from Santa and he just stared at him up and down from his hat to his boots.  He sure was studying him but definetly didn't try to go back to him.  We sure were thankful for Santa though, it was very nice that he came by to see our little man!

11 Months Old

Today our little boy is 11 months old.  I can't believe we will be celebrating his 1st birthday in one month, that is so crazy to me!  I didn't weigh him again this month on the actual month birthday ( I haven't been doing good on the scale pictures) but I did Thursday night and he was 23.4lbs.  He is still just hovering at the same weight.  He has gained 1 lb I think in the last 3 months.  He has really slowed down.  He doesn't look chunky at all to us anymore.  Matthew usually is calling him skinny nowadays but we expected  him to slow down since he has been walking around and crawling all the time.

Today Noah and I went shopping with Grandma Shelley, Taylor and Hannah.  Usually when I got shopping I plan out to leave when it will be about time for a nap so he will sleep on the drive, well today it was a last minute thing and I had to wake him up at 8:30 so I knew he wasn't going to be napping since we were leaving at 9.   I decided that just for today I would put his carseat forward facing so that way we would all enjoy the drive a little more if he was a happy boy.  At first he just stared at mom since she was in the drivers seat with the wheel and all things on the dash.  I never really thought about that he had never seen that stuff.  He stayed awake for the whole way up and did great shopping. The way back he was a very tired boy but just couldn't get himself to sleep.  I tried everything.  I even got out the DVD player and put in a kid movie.  That worked for say maybe 30 seconds, then we were back to throwing our fit.  

  

Once we got home I put him down for a nap and he slept maybe 25 minutes, not long but enough to hold him until bedtime.  Once I heard him up I went in and found the little man playing with his crib machine and standing, what he loves to do in his crib now. 

After catching some pictures in his crib I thought I better show off how cute he is playing on his workbench. I bought this at a garage sale back in May and have had it in the basement all this time waiting to get it out. The other day I was bored with his toys and remembered it and brought it up.  He is probably a little short yet for it and really doesn't play with it like he should since it's meant for an older kid but it's okay he still loves it.  

 And then he also uses it to help him get places by using it to help him move in between the furniture

I've always heard people talk about wanting to freeze their kids and have had many people say to me "don't you just want to freeze him?"  Honestly so far I have always looked forward to the next stage but now I am enjoying him at this age so much and wouldn't definetly freeze him if I could.  He is just such a happy boy now, he understands so much and he is just so fun to play with.  Love him more than I could ever explain!

Woohoo!

Noah will be 11 months in 2 days and finally we have been doing much better at night.  We have had a few stretches over the last 11 months where we would have a few good nights in a row but go right back to getting up multiple times a night. Well this last week has been wonderful. I haven't known what to do with uninterrupted sleep.  I hope I'm not jinxing myself for writing this, but this is really nice.  Also little mr. Noah has been a little cuddler this week, not sure what is up with  that.  He usually only takes his pacifier when he is going to bed and when he wakes up if he hasn't spit it out by the time I go in to get him he will take it out and give it to me.  Well the last few days he has been taking long naps and has been keeping his pacifier in longer and at night he has been wanting it more.  I have enjoyed just having him sit on my lap and cuddle while sucking on his pacifier, I never get to do that unless he is sleeping.  I don't think he has really been feeling too good because I'm not sure why else has my sweet little boy has turned into a cuddler, although I'm definetly not complaining.   Last night after I fed him, he actually just layed on my lap with his eyes open, looking at me, while I rocked him.  He never lets me do that!  It was wonderful after awhile like that I tried putting him on my shoulder and he didn't mind that either.  I'm hoping our next baby is a cuddler because it is so wonderful to be able to do that! 

My Two Boys

Noah loves music and Matthew had gotten his guitar out the other day.  Of course Noah was drawn to it and Matthew let him play around with it with supervision of course.  It's amazing that after just watching Matthew for just a minute he knew what to do with the guitar.  He was taking his cute little fingers and putting them right where he was supposed to on the strings, so cute! 

You probably didn't notice but the ladder in the background has nothing on the bottom two shelves, our little man loves this thing.  He is always putting toys and balls on it, and crawling in it to get them out.  Not sure why, but it provides such a good time.  We have had to do a little more baby proofing lately, now that he is moving all over the place!  I had to say goodbye to all my Wallflowers and replace them with outlet covers.  My candles have now had to resurface, I haven't really used them in a long time.  

Every day we are just amazed, Noah is turning into a little boy, he doesn't seem like our little baby boy anymore.  

First Haircut

About a week and a half ago, Noah got his first haircut.  He got his first one on Friday night by his Aunt Randi with regular scissors.  That was our first mistake.  We should have waited until we had real clippers.  So we did what we could and then Saturday we took him to Matthew's parents and Noah's Aunt Amanda finished the hair cut with some real clippers. 

Aunt Randi starting the hair cut

 Not really wanting to look straight ahead

 We played videos of him on my phone to try and keep him occupied.  He just loves watching himself on there.

The next day with the real clippers.  He didn't like those at all.  It was a struggle and his poor fine hair wouldn't hardly cut with them.  Amanda added some oil to his hair and that helped a little but after awhile we got the job done.  

Our big boy after his first haircut!  The front got a little shorter than I wanted, but that's okay it will grow back!  And we still have the spikey hair, it just doesn't stick up as high.