Church Talk

Today I gave a talk in church on honoring the Sabbath. Since I was one of the speakers, I spent the meeting sitting on the stand at the front rather than in the pews. Toward the end of the meeting Noah, who was sitting in the pews with Ben and Sam, stood up and waved at me, then kept saying, "Mama, come down!" and "Sit on bench!" while pointing to the pew. It was very funny.

On an unrelated note, ever since Ben got The Clapper for Christmas, Noah thinks that everything can be controlled by clapping his hands. Yesterday at the mall, he clapped his hands so the elevator doors would open. Then, when he was playing with an empty suitcase (Ben and I were luggage shopping) the bag tipped onto his leg and he tried clapping his hands to get it off. I'm sure it doesn't help that everything he claps about magically gets taken care of (by me or Ben) right when his clapping stops.

Here's a random picture of my funny little guy, just for fun (his darling outfit was sent from Singapore by Grandma and Grandpa):

Christmas Funnies

I thought I'd share a couple of funny moments from our Christmas yesterday. Of course, they both involve Noah. :)

One of Ben's gifts was, I'm incredibly embarassed to say, The Clapper. Yes, you read that right. The Clapper. That contraption you hook up to a light or an appliance so you can turn it off and on just by clapping. He was really excited about it too - he's been wanting it for a long time and I finally obliged. Apparantly I am married to a 75-year-old man trapped in a 31-year-old body. Anyway, just before naptime Noah was playing with his trains when we made the grave mistake of taking some of the tracks to try to set them up better for him. Noah misunderstood our intentions and started getting upset because he thought we were taking them away. Well, The Clapper picked up on Noah's escalating voice and the light turned off. In his fragile state Noah found this very offensive so he exclaimed "Hey! Turn the light back on!" and the light went back on. Then off again. It was so comical!

Last night after all the presents were open and we'd had dinner and were just kind of winding down the day, we turned on the TV and started watching Deal or No Deal. During one of the breaks, a sexy-type commercial (don't remember what it was) came on and I jokingly told Ben to close his eyes. It was said in passing and we didn't think Noah was even paying attention to us, but when the show came back on and the camera shot over to the girls holding the cases, Noah turned toward Ben and said "Hey Babe, close your eyes!"

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great holiday weekend. This was the first year we didn't travel for Christmas and, while we missed our parents and siblings and nieces and nephews, we had fun with our little family. On Christmas Eve we went to church and then went over to another family's home for dinner. After we put the kids to bed Ben and I finished up wrapping presents and getting everything ready for the morning. Christmas was great, of course! We opened presents, ate yummy food, and stayed in our jammies all day. :) Here are a whole bunch of pictures from our day. Enjoy!

My Sweet Boy is Back...

...and so is Nice Mommy. Noah had a much-needed (for both of us) nap and we had some cuddles and a nice chat about not getting so upset when someone takes something from him and how it's never okay to cry and yell the way he did. He was very receptive. :) And now I feel the need to discuss his cuteness.

We're going to CA to visit my family in a few weeks and Noah is very much looking forward to it. Every day he says to me, in his most excited voice, "Going to see Ry-Ry Lor-Lor Abby Baby Ax-lex Melissa Thomas Grampie Grammie!" Just like that, all strung together in one breath. Then he throws his arms up in the air and adds "In a couple weeks!!"

More cuteness: Last night we were looking through Noah's book of pictures and we came to a picture of him on his blessing day with Ben and both of our dads. I pointed to Ben's dad and asked "Who's that?" Noah said "Grampa!" I pointed to my dad and asked "Who's that?" Noah said "Another Grampa!" Then we came to two pictures in a row of Noah and Ben and on the second one Noah said "Another Daddy!"

Never Again

Okay, I gave Thomas the Train one last try today. I thought it would be fine because we had more time to spend there so Noah would be able to play for longer. Well, it was yet another drama-filled experience. When we first got there there were two other little boys playing there. Their mom had them give Noah a few trains so everyone was playing great. Well, a couple of times the boys each took a train from Noah and he got really mad. The mom made them give them back but when it happened again Noah freaked out and the mom took the boys and left. She said it was time for them to go anyway, but I felt really bad. I know it's annoying that the boys took Noah's train but honestly, his reaction was a little much. Ugh. So then he got the trains all to himself for awhile but when other little kids would come to play of course I would make him share the trains. He was okay with it (reluctantly) with the first little boy came, but when boy #2 and then #3 came up Noah really started having a hard time. Then when one little boy took a train that Noah had deemed "his" he lost it. I ended up carrying him out of the store (in one arm while I pushed Sam's stroller with the other) with him crying and yelling and trying to push me away.

So here's the thing. Noah thankfully does not take things from other kids. And he's fine to play with other kids as long as everyone minds their own business. And sharing is hard but he's even okay with that too, up to a point. But when someone takes something from him it's like all hell breaks loose. I'm glad that he at least isn't a push-over, but I could really do without these over-the-top reactions. Plus, then it takes him forever to get over it. After we left Barnes and Noble today every single little thing would set him back off. So he ended up wailing all through Target too. It's so embarassing for me! A lot of people give me understanding looks, but I also got a lot of "can't you control your child" looks too. Please tell me this is all just age-appropriate and I don't need to be worried. In any event, I've decided that Thomas the Train has way too much potential for stress and drama so I am never taking Noah there again. That's for dang sure. And I did get smart after Target and I skipped my last errand altogether.

Ugh. He's calmly eating his lunch now and hopefully he will take a good nap today. If Nice Mommy doesn't get a long break, Mean Mommy's going to take over (okay, I admit it - she's already here).

Christmas Card Catastrophe

Okay, maybe the title of my post is a bit of an over-reaction. I did have a major setback with my Christmas cards though. You were all going to receive lovely hand-made cards from the Simiskey family this year. I planned it all out and ordered the cardstock I needed and everything. Well, two weeks and a few phone-calls later I have finally learned that even the warehouse that the store orders from is out of the color I ordered. So we had to go to Plan B (which was created yesterday). I hope everyone is okay with New Years cards!! A silver lining is that I already know what I'm doing for my cards in 2007 - how many of you can say that? :)

By the way, we are really enjoying the holiday cards we have received so far. Thanks to all you on-the-ball people out there!

Just for fun, here are a few family pictures that didn't make our Christmas card cut:

Overdue

Wow, I think 5 days is the longest I've gone between posts so far! We had a fun weekend - a three-day weekend since Ben took a personal day on Friday. Woohoo! He has a couple to use before the end of the year so this week will be a short week as well. We had a great time hanging out as a family - Noah thought he was in heaven with Daddy around so much. Friday we did some Christmas shopping at the mall in the morning and after naps I ran an errand with Sam while Noah stayed home with Ben. At Noah's emphatic request they went outside to play with the tennis ball in the grass. He loves to throw it around with Ben and chase it when Ben rolls it on the grass (kind of like a dog I suppose, although I don't really like to compare children and pets). When they got tired they layed on the grass and looked for airplanes. Whenever they heard one Noah would get excited and say "it's WAY up there!" Between aircraft sightings, they had all sorts of fun conversations. At one point Ben asked Noah what he wanted to have for dinner that night and Noah pondered for a moment and then said "Hmmmm . . . I don't care." Apparantly he's learning indecisive behavior from his mom and dad. Pretty soon he'll have to join us in our veto game (which is the only way we can make decisions at our house).

Saturday we had another low-key family day. We went to the Sugar Land Town Square (so cute) for a bit, just to walk around and get some lunch (Jamba Juice - Noah's favorite!). Here are a few pictures from the day:

(The boys cuddling while watching some Saturday morning TV)

(Noah not quite sure about this jolly plastic guy)

(Ben helping Noah see that Santa's not so bad)

(Me and my cuddly Sam - Sam Houston in the background, protecting the Alamo)

(Sam resting during tummy time)

That night we went to a Christmas party at our church. It was a lot of fun. Before the reading of the real Christmas story there was a performance of How the Grinch Stole Christmas that Noah loved (me too, they did a great job!). He kept saying "Crazy Grinch!" He got pretty pooped toward the end though (it was past his bedtime). As we were getting ready to leave I started talking to a friend and Noah, fed up with the delay, pointed to Sam in his carseat and said "He's ready to go home!!!" (Sam was perfectly content but apparantly makes a good scapegoat).

Five Months Old!

Sam turned 5 months old yesterday! Here are his 5 month pictures:

He is such a sweet and delightful baby - I feel so lucky to have him. He loves being talked to and getting kisses - makes him laugh right away. He loves grabbing onto anything we put near his hands (a recent favorite is my hair). He's teething now too - I can feel the little buds of his two bottom teeth under his gums. He's being a very good sport about it, although I think it is probably the culprit behind his waking up a little more at night. That and the fact that I think he's getting ready to start some solids. He did get his first taste of rice cereal the other night. He ate most of it, but he was a little unsure of the process at first!

All in all, he's just a love and we're very happy to have him in our family.

Mary's Lullaby

Tonight I went to a Christmas get-together for the women at my church. We had a brief program and then a light dinner and desserts. For the program portion, I sang a song called Mary's Lullaby (Sam was my prop). When I was practicing it at home earlier I asked Noah if he thought it sounded okay and he said "Yeah. I love that song." Sweetheart. Anyway, unfortunately I think the practice went a little better than the performance. I hate when that happens. Sam was a little bit fussy since it was his bedtime. Fussy for Sam isn't too bad, but I did have to switch positions with him a couple of times while I was singing so I don't feel like my voice was completely stable. Then on the second verse I totally started getting all teary and choked up. Holding my own precious baby boy while I was singing that song was just too much! I guess if I ever perform it again I'll use a doll for my prop. Or just not think about the words too much. :)

A la Noah

Here are some recent cute and funny things a la Noah:

(For those who read my blog earlier today, don't be confused. I edited my last post and put the bottom half of it into this new post and added some things).

The other day Noah picked up The Little Mermaid DVD and said, "Excuse me Miss, you need a shirt!"

This morning Noah was pretending to talk to his cousins on the phone and this was his end of the conversation: "Hi Lor-Lor! I miss you. Hi Ry-Ry! Hi Abby! You're so cute! I miss you again. (pause) Hi Melissa! You're so cute. (pause) Hi Abby! I miss you last time."

He now says "Oh, poor guy" if he's upset about something.

"I'm feeling good!"

"He's a good Peanut" (referring to Sam)

"Fanks!" (translation: "Thanks")

"Grrreat idea!!"

"Fixay! I'm a lizard! Fixay! I'm a frog!" (for the record, I have NO idea was "fixay" means in Noah's world)

"I want to say hi to Peanut" (he'll say this when Sam is sleeping and then when he wakes up Noah gets so excited and says "Sam's awake!!")

The sentiment behind this one is cute - I like that Noah loves his daddy so much. But he and I have had this exact conversation at least 16 times today (and every day), starting the moment Noah woke up:

Noah: "Daddy home soon?"
Me: "Yes honey, Daddy will be home after work."

Then when it's nearing time for Ben to actually come home, Noah starts repeating "Daddy aachie!!" (which is what they call jumping on the bed together - I don't really know where it comes from) and I have to say "Yes, Daddy will aachie with you when he gets home."

Thomas the Train Drama

Phew! These last couple of days have been nutty. Nothing out of the ordinary was even going on, but I just feel like I have been going nonstop. I finally just had a chance to eat lunch (it's 3pm). This morning started out smoothly. I wrapped some Christmas presents and went to the post office to mail off 4 packages. The trip was nice and uneventful. So, since it went so quickly and we were near Barnes and Noble I told Noah we could stop by and play with Thomas the Train for a few minutes in the kids section of the bookstore. (By the way, this is why I have crazy days. Heaven forbid I just have a few extra minutes without filling them up with something). Anyway, I discovered that 2 years olds don't so much understand what "we can only stay for 1/2 hour" means. He was doing great until another little girl snatched a train from him a few minutes before we had to go. That set him off and he hadn't recovered yet when I told him we had to leave. Boy, was he mad! So we get out to the car and I'm feeling all flustered because an entire bookstore full of people were listening to my child cry. We start driving away when I discovered I left my cell phone in the store. Back we go to find a parking spot, get the kids out, go back to the train table and back to the car. On the way back I tried to explain to Noah (with as much patience as I could muster!) that it's very nice of Mommy to let him play with Thomas the Train and he needs to just be happy that he got to play and not get so upset when it's time to go and that it's very frustrating when he acts like that. Well, he listened to me and then said in his tear-filled voice, "I'm frustrated too." Then when he was talking to Ben on the phone (calms him down immediately) the first thing he said after "Hi Daddy" was "So frustrating with Thomas the Train!" Funny how, even when I'm having a difficult time with Noah he can be so cute!

Well, Noah's waking up; break-time is over!

Christmas Spectacular

So as I mentioned in my previous post, last night was Ben's company Christmas party. The timing ended up working out really well. We still had to miss dinner, which was a bummer (scarfing McDonald's down in the car on the way to the show just isn't quite the same as sitting down to a steak dinner at a nice Houston restaurant), but oh well. I tried really hard to take my mom's advice to not ruin the evening by getting too stressed wondering whether Sam would wake up or not and I'm really glad that I did (take her advice) because it all worked out great. Stressing out would have been totally pointless. Sam was incredibly cooperative - he went straight to sleep when I put him down right before we left and he delayed his normal 10:30 wake-up by a full hour. So he woke up literally 3 minutes after I got back from driving the babysitter home. Perfect timing!

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular was such a cute show. I highly recommend it. I can't wait to take my boys to it in a few years - I think it would be a really fun Christmas-time tradition. And how much fun would it be to be a Rockette??? Why did I have to quit dance when I was four? (The answer, in case anyone is wondering, is because I was really shy at the time and apparantly the thought of having to dance in front of the parents on Friday practices was too mortifying for me. I had no problem with performances, just practicing in front of people.). Maybe in my next life. ;)

Anyway, the last number of the show was a live Nativity (including real camels and sheep!). I was so pleasantly surprised to see that on the program, especially since so many people and establishments take that out of Christmas these days. It was really refreshing to see something that actually stood up for the true meaning of Christmas and didn't back away from it. I was really curious to see how they would actually perform the scene; the rest of the show is so fun and upbeat. But they transitioned into it really well and made it absolutely beautiful. It even brought a few tears to my eyes.

Cuddle Boy

Tonight Noah was having a hard time falling asleep. We'd hear him play around and chat in his crib for awhile, then he would call out for various things (his keys, his phone, chocolate milk). After both Ben and I went in more than once to tell him it was time for sleepy and he could have ______ tomorrow, I was hesitant to go in yet again when I heard him calling for me. But I opened the door to see what he wanted (this time) and he said, very sleepily, "I want to cuddle." Well, how could I possibly refuse that?? So I went in and picked him up and rocked with him for a few minutes while he wrapped his arms around my neck and layed his head on my shoulder. His final request was to "say hi to daddy," which we granted, and then he finally went to sleep.

Once Boy #1 was sleeping, Boy #2 woke up. I don't know what the deal is but lately Sam, my once-great sleeper, has gotten into a sleeping funk. He no longer takes long naps where I can simply lay him down awake and not hear a peep for a couple of hours. And he's been waking up more at night (he's added 10:30pm to his normal 4am wake-up and now starts his day at 6am). Which makes me really nervous because tomorrow is Ben's company Christmas party. They're going to dinner and then to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes in Houston. I'm already having to miss the dinner portion of it because Sam has decided he will no longer accept a bottle as an alternate method of food consumption. So I have to stay home until I can put Sam to bed since the babysitter won't be able to feed him (breastfeeding is great and all, but formula certainly has its advantages!). The plan is to put Sam down at his normal 7pm bedtime and then leave right away and meet up with the party at the Rockette's show (SO excited!) at 8. But now I'm very concerned because the show is 2 hours so it will really be cutting it close for us to be back home by 10:30. I'm just going to cross my fingers that he doesn't wake up until we get home... Sometimes babies are hard. It's a good thing they're so cute and cuddly.

Header Overhaul

Does everyone like my new blog header?? A huge THANK YOU to my friend Jenn for putting it together for me. (You can see more of her amazing handiwork here). I love it Jenn!

Step one was getting the header. Step two was actually putting it onto my template, which proved quite the feat. I added it as a page element at the bottom of my template page and thought I'd be able to simply drag it to the top. Well, I was very much mistaken. I won't bore you with all the HTML-coding details, but let's just say it involved several posts (17 to be exact) between myself and Deepa from the Google groups blogger help group. So a big thank you to Deepa!

It takes a village, people.

Shoe Fanatic

Noah likes to wear my shoes.

Houdini Hands

Isn't it cute how enthralled babies are with their own hands? I love watching Sam stare at and play with his hands like they are just the coolest things ever. Last night I was putting him in his jammies and when I started putting his arm through the sleeve he got this very serious look on his face and just stared intently at the sleeve into which his hand had just disappeared. The expression on his face was so funny; it was like he was so confused and concerned about where his hand went. Then when he saw it emerge from the end of the sleeve his eyes got all wide and he looked so amazed. What an unbelievable trick! He continued staring at his hand for a moment and then got this huge grin on his face and shoved his hand in his mouth, evidently very happy and relieved to have it back.

I tried to take a picture of Sam staring at his beloved hands, but the camera distracted him. The picture's still cute though, so here it is!

Ah, the Post Office

Why is going to the post office always such an ordeal? This morning I attempted to mail off a package at the post office. Since I don't know this area like the back of my hand yet, I looked online and got directions to the nearest location. Well, apparantly usps.com has some updating to do because, as it turns out, 345 Hwy 6 is actually a construction site. I remembered seeing a sign with an arrow and the words "US Post Office" down a ways on Hwy 6 so I thought all would be fine. Just a little detour. Well, apparantly Sugar Land likes to hide its post offices and then locate them in the most nondescript building possible with no sign on it to give away what type of establishment may be inside. Long story short (kind of), I drove for 1/2 hour before finally finding the darn place. When I got inside the line was long of course and they didn't have the size box I needed. Note to self, do not count on the post office for packing supplies. Needless to say, the trip was entirely in vain and I still have a package to mail.

At least I managed to keep my reaction to extreme irritation. Unlike my reaction to a certain situation a few years ago, which my dad refers to as "The Great Post Office Debacle of 2003." That experience ended in me completely losing it and crying for literally 45 minutes while commuting home on the streets and trains of downtown Chicago. In my defense, I was 2 months pregnant with Noah so I would like to blame the whole thing on out-of-control hormones.

Still, I hate the post office.

For the Love of Charlie

Noah loves his cousins. He is obsessed with all of them - even the ones he hasn't seen since he was too little to remember. He talks about them all, loves to look at (and talk to) their pictures, and asks to talk to them on the phone. When I told him that Ry-Ry was at school this morning after Noah asked to call her, he said "I want to go to school with Ry-Ry too." I absolultely love that he is so into his cousins. His adoration is so strong that I really feel like there's something in him that just lets him know that they are family. He can just tell somehow. Ever since we got back from Thanksgiving, he has been particularly talkative about his cousin Charlie. The other morning he woke up super early so I went in his room and asked what was wrong. He said "I want to see Charlie last time," like he was trying to negotiate with me to see him or something. When he gets upset, he says "I want Charlie!" He has now extended his sentiment to everybody who is upset. The other day there was a little girl at the playground who was sad about something; Noah pointed to her and said "She's crying. She wants Charlie." And this morning, Sam apparantly wanted Charlie too.

Bedtime

When Noah was a baby I dreaded bedtime every night. It was always a ridiculous ordeal that often ended with him crying. Then he would wake up every couple of hours and we'd have to do it all over again all night long. Well, I'm happy to say that after that traumatizing experience, Noah is finally a fantastic sleeper who goes down very happily and easily (and rarely wakes up at night). Bedtime is now downright delightful. A typical night goes something like this. After dinner, Noah and Sam take a bath and we put them in jammies and brush Noah's teeth. Then it's story time. We all sit on the floor in Noah's room and read for awhile. Here's a picture of all my boys getting ready for stories (Sam is sometimes too tired to join us for story time so on those nights I put him down and then join Ben and Noah):


Old-time favorite books include:

Goodnight Gorilla
Hug
Yummy Yucky, Quiet Loud, and Big Little
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
Don't Let the Pigeon Stay Up Late
Olivia's Opposites
The Going to Bed Book
Clifford the Big Red Dog
Kiss Goodnight
Daddy Kisses
Sometimes I Like to Curl Up in a Ball
and of course, Goodnight Moon

Lately Noah has been exploring some previously-ignored books on his bookshelf. He's recently very into Harold and the Purple Crayon, Dumpy to the Rescue, and Dumpy's Apple Farm. He was so excited when he noticed the second Dumpy book - he held it up and said "Hey! I found another Dumpy!" He's very fun to read books with because he points things out on each page and sometimes tries to read along. It's funny to hear him recite books throughout the day. He has tons of them memorized, the little smartie-pants. He'll sometimes do some alone reading time and he'll pick up a book and recite the story as he turns the pages. He always includes the little extras that Ben or I will put into a story too. Like, when the camel comes up on Dear Zoo, he'll say "What does a camel say?" then he'll pretend to spit and then say "That's right! Good job." Oh, he also lately has been licking his fingers while we read because he noticed Ben doing that the other night to turn a page. Nothing gets by this kid. I think I'm in trouble when he gets older. I'm really going to have to watch myself! Anyway, here he is reading with Daddy:


After we've had enough story-time (we always have to give Noah the last-book warning) I kiss Noah goodnight and leave the rest to Ben (unless, of course, he's still at work). Ben picks Noah up and holds him for a few minutes while they recap the day together. Then Ben puts Noah in the crib and, if Noah asks him to "make a story" he'll recite Goodnight Moon while Noah is laying down. Last night while making a story, Ben had his hand on Noah's chest and Noah grabbed his hand and interlocked his fingers with Ben's. Noah then held Ben's hand up and kissed it. So sweet! Then it's time to say goodnight to everything - the blanket, the monkey, the puppy, the toys, his letters (a letter puzzle Noah loves). Last night Ben thought he'd be in there all night because when he said "Goodnight letters" Noah said "Goodnight R. Goodnight U. Goodnight V..." Fortunately Noah seemed satisfied when Ben finally said "Goodnight, bunch of letters."

Warming Up to Santa

This morning the boys and I went into Houston to go to the Galleria. We like to do this every week or so because 1) Pottery Barn Kids is there, which is one of Noah's favorite places to play, and 2) we get to meet Ben for lunch since he works across the street. We used to go to Pottery Barn Kids' story time every week in Chicago and beforehand I would always talk to Noah about how we should share and be nice when we're there. Now at the mere mention of PBK Noah will repeat my little lecture (he'll say "Share. Be nice! Pottery Barn Kids - want to??"). Last week he told another little boy there to share and be nice (the boy couldn't even talk yet and just stared at Noah).

Anyway, the mall Santa happened to be stationed right outside PBK so I took Noah to see him. He was pretty timid about it, but Santa was great and showed Noah his reindeer watch to break the ice.



Noah may not be totally excited about Santa yet, but it's a vast improvement over last year, don't you think?

Tricks of the Trade

It goes without saying that toddlers don't always do what you want them to - and when they do, it is on their own time table which doesn't always match up with yours. So, like all parents, Ben and I have developed several tricks to help encourage Noah to do what we want him to. Here are some that work most of the time for us:

1) When he doesn't want to get in his high chair or carseat, we say "Hey, Noah, should Daddy (or Mommy) get into your high chair?" to which he laughs and says "Nooooo, you're just a Daddy (Mommy). You're too big! You're just a Daddy (Mommy)!" While he is distracted by the hilarious thought of us in his high chair, he usually climbs right in or lets us put him in.

2) When he's reluctant to eat I'll say "Hey! Is that a giraffe in your mouth? Does the giraffe want a bite?" and he thinks it's pretty fun to feed the giraffe in his mouth so he'll open up.

3) Similar to #2, we pretend we see animals (giraffes, monkeys, hippos) in his mouth that we have to get with his toothbrush. Works every time. Sometimes Noah will chime in with an animal he thinks is in there.

4) If I've had it at the end of the day and I just don't have it in me to do dinner and bath, or if it's getting too late, I'll put Noah in the bathtub and feed him dinner while he's in there. This was also a life-saver during the phase where Noah would eat basically nothing. He would be distracted enough by bath toys that he would let me spoon-feed him in the tub. (His pediatrician thought I was absurd for doing this and he's probably right, but it's hard to accept that they don't want food when they can't communicate yet and you know they haven't eaten a thing! And I definitely didn't want him waking up at night cause he was hungry).

Well, to quote Ben, "I'm sure there are others (seems like we use them all the time) but can't think of others off the top of my head."

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. This is the first time since Ben and I have been married that we didn't travel out of state for the holiday. Instead, we went to visit Ben's oldest brother Stan and sister-in-law Tina and their 6 kids. They live in Nederland, about 2 hours away, so we were able to make it a day trip. One of the many things we are thankful for this year is living closer to some family. We had a blast with them, and of course had a delicious Thanksgiving feast (thanks Stan & Tina!). Noah was soooooo excited about seeing his Simiskey cousins. He talked about it for a week beforehand and he's been talking about them all day today. It was so cute to see him with them yesterday - he just looked so happy all day long. He would run in from playing with them outside and tell us about what they were doing ("So much fun with rocks!" "So much fun on the scooter!") and then run back out to keep playing. All our nieces and nephews were all so adorable with Noah - they all really looked out for him and took his hand and were so fun with him. Such great kids. Here are a bunch of pictures from the day:

Noah and Sam with their cousins - Sarah, Colin, Laney, Jack, Zach and Charlie.

Noah and Charlie (at one point Noah lost track of Charlie and kept looking around for him saying "Hey! Where Charlie go?" with his hands up-turned; when he found him he said "There it is!")

Sarah, Noah, Ben and Sam with one of their little kittens. Noah was fascinated by them and kept telling us how cute and little they were. He thought it was so fun to pet and hold the kittens. Although, after awhile he got tired of holding this one and said "It's ugly!" so Sarah would take it back.

Sam kicking back to watch some Thanksgiving football with Daddy.

Ben and his brother Stan.

Me and Sam with Tina and her adorable turkey cake (Sam looks like he's ready to dig into it, doesn't he?).

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sailor Man

Isn't this the cutest little boy's tee shirt you've ever seen (not to mention the little boy in it - seriously, look at that face)? I think I love it so much because I have very fond Popeye memories. I enjoyed watching the cartoon when I was little, but I also remember this one day when for some reason I started imitating Olive Oyl and my brother Dave thought it was SO hilarious. I loved that my big brother thought I was funny and I've always remembered it. Anyway, it's a good thing I like the shirt so much because it was actually quite the ordeal in getting it. My mom bought it for Noah when we were out visiting (thanks, Mom!) but the 2T ended up being a little small for him so when we got to Texas I went in to exchange it. Of course, they were out of the 3T so I had them order it from another store. Well, two weeks go by and I still hadn't heard anything so I called and apparantly the person who had ordered it for me messed up and it never went through. SO, I re-order it over the phone and another two weeks go by. I call again. The salesperson says it went through but was still pending. I'm not sure who Nordstrom's preferred mail carrier is - the Pony Express, perhaps? Anyway, I ask if it's normal for it to take so long and, by way of explanation, she tells me it's coming from Seattle. Hmmm. I think I could probably ride my bike from Seattle to here in two weeks (well, I couldn't - and definitely wouldn't - but you know what I mean). No hard feelings though, cause Nordstrom's awesome. Anyway, it finally arrived and I picked it up yesterday when we went to the Galleria to meet Ben for lunch. Yipee!!!

What a Difference 3 Months Makes

So I went grocery shopping this morning. I have learned that there are several factors which are necessary to make a successful grocery shopping trip with two small boys (and by successful, I mean a trip that does not end in tears or an excessive amount of sweating on my part). These factors include, but are not limited to:

1) Getting the giant grocery cart with the toddler car attached to the front. Yes, it's embarassing to push and very difficult to manuver (I've rammed it into many a display and have sideswiped many a cart), but it's worth it.

2) Fruit snacks and/or (preferably "and") suckers (Dum-Dums are small so you don't feel as bad about bribing your child with them).

3) Using a Baby Bjorn for the wee one instead of the carseat, which is too hard to see over. Plus, the Baby Bjorn tends to make my wee one fall asleep and stay happy.

With these factors in place I can generally have a nice and fairly relaxing grocery shopping trip. I still don't dawdle inside, but I no longer have to race around at warp speed trying to get through the store before my childrens' patience runs out. Let's contrast this with my first grocery shopping experience with two kids, shall we? Here is an excerpt from an email I sent to Ben in August after my first grocery shopping trip post-Sam:

Wow, grocery shopping with two kids is nuts. Got in the car, forgot the list and the coupon. Drove back home, booked it upstairs (kids still in car) to get them (coupon expired of course). Got to the store, they were out of their big carts (the ones with toddler seats in front that look like trucks). So poor Noah had to sit in the back of the cart among all the groceries (he organized them all for me). Sam got hungry basically right away. Luckily I thought to bring the bottle of expressed milk from the fridge so I was steering the cart with one hand (very hard since it was so heavy with 2 kids and groceries in it) and feeding Sam with the other and somehow still putting groceries in the cart. Same thing with loading groceries in the car (tried to load and feed Sam simultaneously). Got home, made a bunch of runs up/down the stairs while Noah played in the car and Sam came with me in the sling until he fell asleep and I was able to put him in the bouncy. In the middle of all of this, the shelf in the door of the refrigerator broke and so did a jar of relish so I had to clean all of that up. Then Sam woke up and wanted to finish the bottle. Finally have him sleeping again and Noah is eating lunch (very well, by the way). Now I have to finish putting the groceries away and clean the kitchen, get Noah down for a nap, and eat myself. And pretty soon I really need to pump because since Sam had a bottle and didn't breastfeed earlier, I'm leaking all over the place. Oh, by the way, Jewel was out of your yogurts. I’ll try to go to Ashland later today to get them. Or maybe we’ll walk down and pick you up at the train tonight. Then we can go together so one of us can just run in and not deal with getting the stroller through the bars.

Jamaican Boy

I think I mentioned before that when someone sneezes Noah says "Gazoonie!" Well, now he says "Gazoonie, Man". . . with a very distinct Jamaican accent. Now, most things that Noah says can be traced back to something that Ben or I have said at one point, or maybe something from the Little Einsteins DVD he likes so much (which is about 4 American children). But I promise you, neither Ben nor I speak with a Jamaican accent. Ever. So I can't figure out where this came from.

Welcome Adam!

At 3am today my new little nephew, Adam David, was born via emergency c-section. My sister-in-law started contracting and Adam's heart rate dropped really low. When they were unable to raise it back up they decided to do an emergency c-section (a very good thing considering Laurel was dialated to a 6 and 100% effaced; the umbilical cord was wrapped around Adam's foot and, since he was breech and coming feet-first, it would have been disasterous if he started decending into the birth canal). Anyway, Adam is 5 pounds which is great for a baby born at 32 1/2 weeks. He's having some trouble breathing and is on a ventilator for now but they hope to wean him off that very soon. There was a big scare with Laurel too, but thankfully all is well now and we're all very hopeful that little Adam will be just fine after a long stay in the NICU. Welcome to the world, little guy (it gets better, I promise)!

A Few Sweet Pictures

It's so late (early, actually) but I can't sleep so I thought I would post a few random pictures that I love. The first is Ben and a sleepy Sam; the second is me and a sleepy Sam. Is there anything cozier than a baby sleeping on your shoulder? I don't think so. It makes you feel like all is right with the world. The third is of Noah and Sam watching Baby Einsteins one morning (Noah requested that Sam sit by him in his chair). And the fourth is of Noah right after a nap, the way I find him 95% of the time when I go in to get him after he wakes up.

Impatient Baby

My sister-in-law Laurel (my brother Dave's wife) is in pre-term labor right now. She's 32 weeks pregnant and has been on bedrest since 18 weeks, poor thing. Now she's in the hospital and she's already dialated to a 5. They gave her some medicine to hopefully stop the contractions, but they don't know if it will work or not. She'll be in the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy, however long that will be. Every day that the baby can stay in utero makes a huge difference so everyone send some good prayers and anti-labor vibes their way!

Naptime At Last

I have written several posts about how sweet, cute, and funny Noah is. So it should be abundantly clear by now how much I love and adore that kid and how wonderful I think he is, right? Okay. Then I feel I can proceed...

Today my firstborn is driving me crazy. I can only assume it has something to do with his missed nap yesterday catching up to him. Or perhaps it's the fact that he is two and prone to, well, acting two from time to time. Whatever the reason, we have had a difficult day today. He has been completely ignoring anything I say, I had to physically pin him down to finally get his clothes on him this morning, he ran away from me and straight toward a crowded parking lot when we were leaving our play date at the mall (which was for him, by the way), he went "boneless" on me several times this morning (translation: went all limp when I would try to hold his hand so he would come with me), and I have heard such fun comments as:

"Hey! That's mine!"
"I want to go this way NOW!"
"Stop it!"
"No, I want to ____________" (fill in with just about anything except what I was wanting him to do)
"I want ___________" (fill in names of people that were not mommy)

As you can probably surmise by all of this, Noah was incredibly exhausted and immediately konked out at naptime so hopefully our afternoon will be a little bit better.

Four Months Old

Well, I'm three days late on this, but here are Sam's 4-month froggy pictures:

He is such a happy baby, it makes me smile just to look at him. As I mentioned in an earlier post, he can roll now from his back to his tummy (to which his big brother always says "Great job, Peanut!") but he hasn't figured out how to get back yet. However, he tolerates being on his tummy for longer now and is getting really good at holding his neck up in that position and pushing up on his arms. As you can tell in the picture, he loves to suck on his fist these days. It seems his hand is always in his mouth - maybe he's teething already? Seems a little early, but I don't really remember when teething usually starts so who knows. He's such a love though - he'll just smile at everybody and he gets lots of oohs and aahs over his two big dimples. He's a good sleeper too, for the most part. He doesn't require anything (bouncing, rocking, holding, nursing) in order to sleep - he just lays in his bassinet and falls quietly asleep and he takes great naps (I'm still amazed by this, it's so different from when his brother was an infant...). At 1 month Sam started sleeping 8 hour stretches at night and by 2 months he was sleeping all night long, the little love. For some reason, when we moved to Texas he stopped that though. He's slept all night a few times since, but usually he wakes up once (occasionally twice) now. Weird. He's still so little that I'm not concerned or even bothered by it really. Especially since I know he has it in him to sleep all night. Plus, he seems genuinely hungry when he wakes up. In fact, it's actually a really sweet time when the house is all dark and quiet and I just get to hold and nurse and snuggle with my baby and actually give him some undivided attention. Don't get me wrong - I won't complain when he resumes sleeping all night, but it's nice to have a little alone time with him, even if it's just for a few minutes at 4am.

Little Einsteins Mania

Noah loves Little Einsteins (not to be confused with Baby Einstein, the DVDs with blobs and lightshows set to music - which he also quite enjoys). His obsession began when my brother and sister-in-law sent him a Little Einsteins DVD when Sam was born and ever since he has been quite the little fan. Sadly, the DVD broke about a month ago. I had been putting off buying a new one (I've seen it about a zillion times now) and Noah asked about it sometimes but seemed ok. Well, yesterday he started singing the theme song from it and yelling "Rocket!" (part of the song) and saying "Love that show. It's my favorite." Then "Einsteins broken. Get a new one at the store?" So, of course, this morning found us at the store, buying a brand new copy. Noah was sooooo excited. He kept talking to the DVD cover, saying "Hi Einsteins! Having a good day at Target? You're so cute!" I put it on for him as soon as we got home and he watched the DVD all up close and personal, like this:

Unfortunately for me, he was so excited about it that he couldn't sleep. He spent his entire nap time today not napping in any way, shape or form. He wasn't crying or anything, but I heard him in there talking about Einsteins and a few times he called me in to say he wants to watch it. He seemed fine with my "after nappy" rule, but he still didn't fall asleep. When he called out for me again toward the end of his normal nap time, I decided to give up and let him get out. Well, apparantly he decided to try a new tactic with me and when I opened the door he said "Had a good nappy!" As though I didn't know he was awake the whole time or something. Tricky little bugger!