Lobsters (coming out your ears!)

Noah's first time to the beach (Cabrillo Beach).... though it was WAY too cold for him! We literally got out of the car, took the picture, and Noah and I went back to the car while Ben and his mom looked around - I'm not about to let this little guy get sick.

One nice thing about living in Southern California is all the fresh seafood (if you like seafood, that is). Ben loves seafood and there is a fresh fish market that is open only on Saturdays very close to our home. Saturday, Ben, his Mom and Grandma all went down to the market and they bought two lobsters. So since tonight was their last night here, Ben and Carol fixed those poor lobsters for dinner (but not before Ben cut off the eyes... he didn't want it looking at him when he ate it).

Instead of boiling those poor things alive, Ben put the lobsters in the freezer to "freeze them to death". Yes! They were alive when they brought them home!

One lobster down, one more to cook!

Six Weeks Today!

Noah is six weeks today!!

Today we had Noah's hip ultrasound appointment and based on the quick glances of the pictures, the tech and the doctor says everything looks good! We'll have to go see his pediatrician to get the actual results, but we're glad to hear that our little (okay BIG) breech baby is doing great.

We spent the rest of the afternoon out and about, and then came back home for dinner and games, and of course to hold and play with Noah.

All the excitement and busyness of the day wore Noah out.... but Daddy still wanted to play.

"Meet the Baby" Weekend: Day 3

"Meet the Baby" Weekend ended with the five of us meeting up with some of the "Norman" gang at Claim Jumper. We love getting together with them and it's always a hoot to hear the funny stories about Grandma Lucy and Carol! ;)

Aunt Evelyn and Grandma Lucy holding Noah.

Beth (Evelyn's daughter) getting some quality time with Noah.

Nancy (Beth's daughter) loving on him!

Jim's good side. :) (Haha Jim!)

Ben, our waiter, showing everyone the dessert tray!

Aunt Evelyn's dessert... we all shared it because it was SO huge!

"Meet the Baby" Weekend: Day 2

Tonight, all of the "Baylor Kids" came over to meet Noah and visit with the rest of us - they were especially excited to get to see Carol! They used to hang out quite a bit at her house while they were in college... eating her out of house and home! ;) Now, they do that at our house! Just kidding guys... you know I love to feed ya'll!

Uncle Chuck loves Noah!

Uncle Dennis and Noah getting some quality time in for the evening.

My favorite part of the evening: Cody and Brad fighting over who gets to hold Noah. Brad went so far as to even count down the time that Cody was "allowed" to hold Noah!

"The Baylor Kids"

"Meet the Baby" Weekend: Day 1

Tonight started the "Meet the Baby" super-weekend! We've got a weekend full of visits and today was only the beginning!

Noah and I headed out on a (seemingly!) short trip over to visit with my "Bunco Babes" (my school Bunco group) and in all the hurry to get there and get back home, I totally forgot to take any pictures! But, it goes without saying through pictures, that my dear Bunco friends all fell in love with Noah - I literally had to pry him out of a few hands! :) I swear I'll remember to take pictures next time... I did have my camera!

Ben's Mom and Grandma also arrived today from Colorado and Arizona (respectively) and were so excited to finally get to meet the little guy in person.

Grandma Carol holding Noah for the first time!

Great-Grandma Lucy and Noah.

While Daddy Cleans....

he's fine too!! Yesterday I was amazed that when I ran the vacuum cleaner, Noah didn't wake up. So tonight while Ben was vacuuming the stairs (it hasn't been done since before Thanksgiving!!), Noah wasn't fazed at all! Thank heavens for an easy baby!

While Mommy Cleans....

the baby sleeps.

Silly Baby

Sometimes Noah does things that just make Ben and I laugh. This is an example.....

We were laughing so hard because no matter how hard we tried to get him to lower his head and look at us, he kept lifting his chin and trying to look behind him. What a silly baby!

Five Weeks Old

Eventually I'll get tired of rattling off how many weeks old Noah is, but until then - FIVE WEEKS TODAY!

And yes, yet another video of how mean Ben (okay, we... I mean, I taped it.) is to our poor little guy. Sometimes we have to wake him up to eat during the day (I feed him every few hours during the day, so that I can just feed on demand at night... and it works -- he slept for five 1/2 hours last night!!) and let's just say that Daddy is a little bit more mean about it than I am.

And... this is the result.

Ella (and Josh and Michelle!) Visit

I've long ago realized that once you have kids, it's no longer "you" that everyone wants to see, but your kid(s). That said, I couldn't resist labeling this entry as "Ella Visits"! :) (We still love ya'll very much though, Michelle and Josh!)

Three of our dear friends from small group, Josh, Michelle, and their little girl Ella, came over tonight to visit us and to meet Noah for the first time. I've been teasing them since we've known that he was a boy that we're going to arrange a marriage between Ella and Noah, but after their visit, I'm not sure that Ella is all that interested in him!

And, I wish I would have taken video of Ben getting stomped by Michelle on Wii Boxing! ;)

Christmas Pictures

Yes, it's the middle of January. Yes, Christmas was 18 (??) days ago. And yes, our Christmas tree is STILL up! I mean, what else do you expect to happen when you have a baby during the holiday season? :)

I was pretty upset Christmas Day when we weren't able to take our first Christmas picture with Noah at home under our tree. So, I vowed that we would take Christmas pictures once he got home and since we're hoping to take down all the Christmas decorations tomorrow, today was our last chance to get a couple of "First Christmas" pictures taken. Here's a few of my favorites:

Much Better

Noah is much better today. We felt so bad for him last night (he SCREAMED every time we even attempted to change his diaper) that we gave him a little of the infant Tylenol that the Base Pediatrician had given us for when he gets his shots. He actually slept pretty well too - even though he was up every two hours, he went right back to sleep after he ate! That was a first - usually he'll sleep 3-4 hours and then stay up for an hour after he eats.

Today we just a few errands to get prepared for an evening with the Frey's. My favorite part of the evening was when we sat down to play Euchre and Greg told Angie to hand over Noah - I laughed and then grabbed my camera. I think he needs a little Noah too.

And, just to show how mean we are to Noah... here's a video of Ben trying to "scare" the hiccups out of Noah. Before the video started, Noah seemed startled by the noises Ben was making, but once the video starts, he is unfazed. Maybe he'll survive in this family afterall! :)

One Month Old

Happy One Month Noah!

Noah is exactly one month old today and the poor thing, he had a really rough day (and so did Mommy as a result). We had, what we thought was to be, a routine doctor's appointment this morning. Noah was suppose to be weighed (he's now at 10lbs. 9oz. and 22in), checked over, and then sent to lunch with Daddy at work. But it was everything but that.

He had the first of his series of shots (we thought that they would be started at two months at the Base Clinic), so of course, he cried a little... which just broke my heart. But that's not where the crying stopped. We had already had his circumcision done before we left the hospital, but over the course of the past week, we've realized that, well, it wasn't "complete". (Someday he'll hate me for sharing all this with the world!) My OB who did the original circ gave one set of instructions about it while the Base Pediatrician gave another (which included waiting a year and then seeing a urologist). So today, when I asked the NICU Pediatrician about it, he said it needed to be redone and that today was the last day that he'd redo it - he doesn't like to do them on boys older than one month. What were we to do but go ahead and do it? My poor little baby just cried and cried and I even cried too... going through this twice was just more than the two of us could handle. But, now he's sleeping peacefully next to his Daddy and hopefully tomorrow will be a much better (and less painful) day.

His Tweety-Bird band-aid from his shot...

sorry, Aunt KK, no shots of his winky that he'll be proud of! ;)

Sleeping off the pain with Daddy.

And, for those who are interested in knowing... I'm officially back at my pre-pregnancy weight!! Yippee!! Of course, we are still working on the pre-Clomid weight, but we're only one month out and I can fit into my regular jeans!!

Due Date

Today was Noah's official due date! Hard to believe that one month ago I was waiting for him to be here and now he's nearly (and by some accounts is) one month old! And yes, I still would have rather carried him to term (TODAY even!) than spend all that time in the NICU. ;)

He and I **attempted** to take some pictures today for his announcements, but he just wanted to be a Fussy Gus instead. I got a couple of good ones and we'll try again tomorrow to get a couple more (when the light is good!). Here's a couple that I won't be using so I can post them.

And, because I can never resist a Daddy and Son picture... here you are.

Sleepy Baby

Sometimes waking Noah up to eat (I know, I know... never wake a sleeping baby.) takes a little extra help from Daddy.... he's so good at pestering him!

Four Weeks Today!

Noah is four weeks old today! (I think I'm going to count months by the date, so one month would be Jan 10th, but four weeks is about the same thing and is a big accomplishment too!)

Swing Time!!

Katy and Grant came over for their first visit with Noah today. I'd say she enjoyed getting to hold Noah for the first time!
And look how well Grant is standing on his own!!


We also received a package today from my dear friend Michelle and her new hubby Craig - the PJ's that she sent for Noah were adorable and the pictures from her wedding went straight to my fridge (well, after this one was scanned.... it's my favorite!). Wasn't she a beautiful bride on Maui???! I hope it's okay that I posted it Michelle!!

A sling and some shopping

I finally got to finish up Noah's first sling! (Phooey on those who say you'll never get anything done once you have a baby! ) He seems to like it pretty well - both times we've put him in it, he's fallen asleep pretty quickly. I've got enough ring sets to make a few more, so I think the next one that I make will be with some thinner (and fancier!) fabric.

Taking a nap while Mommy types on the computer!

While I was working on the sling and sewing on the patches on Ben's other set of ABU's, Ben went on his first Grocery Game shopping experience - I'd say he did pretty good!

Meeting the Kaffman's

Even though they were able to visit us in the hospital, Matt and Kristin had not yet been able to really touch or hold Noah (he was still in the incubator bed when they last saw him in person). So we were excited when our friends were able to go eat dinner with us and come back to our place to spend some time with Noah and with us.

Kristin and Noah - watch out for the baby fever!! :)

Matt and Noah - he looks like a natural!

Yippee for Baby Gas-X

Confession - Noah can be a gassy baby. The poor thing, sometimes I think it really hurts him when he's got to poop or fart, or even burp! So, this morning after Ben left for work, Noah and I headed out on our first little adventure alone to get him some gas relief. Thank heavens for Baby Gas-X! This afternoon I was actually able to put him in the swing and get a few things done! And here's the proof! He slept like an angel! Now let's just hope that it works for tonight's usual fussiness too!

I hate goodbyes.

It's true. I hate goodbyes. And this morning was no different. Okay, so it was. This time not only was my family saying bye to me and Ben, but to Noah too. I think it's easier on me when I'm the one who is leaving - I think it's easier when you are the one who is heading home. This morning, when my Mom, Daddy-Man, and sisters left to go back home to Oklahoma and then Ben left to go to work, the house seemed a little empty with just me and Noah in it. I'm already looking forward to our first visit back home!

(The video is of all of us at Denny's for breakfast before everyone headed out.)

Ben (in his new ABU's) and Noah playing Zelda after dinner.

Another busy day!

Today was another pretty busy day. Ben went back to work today for what we thought was going to be a half-day, but ended up being a regular work day. The base clinic called and asked us to go ahead and bring Noah in to them today (we had an appointment for next week), so Noah and I, along with my Mom and Daddy-Man, loaded up in the Jeep and went to his first well baby appointment on base. He had gained a whopping FIVE ounces since Saturday! He now weighs 10lbs 3ozs! We couldn't be more glad!

Noah, Daddy-Man, and I watching OU play in the Fiesta Bowl (which, sadly, OU lost).

None of Noah's OU outfits fit yet, so we just put him in an OU bib and socks.... next year, when they play for, AND WIN, the National Championship, he'll be dressed to the hilt!

BB and Jessie trying to hide and steal Noah so they could take him back with them to Oklahoma.

This is Noah's Christmas present from his Papa. His first ever Tonka truck! I'm not sure who was more excited about it, Noah or my Daddy-Man! (And he's laying on the blanket that my Mom crocheted for him.)

New Year's Day

After staying up all night (well, until midnight!), we spent the day recuperating and resting up. Mom, Daddy-Man and I also went to JoAnn's to pick out some yarn for a baby sling that Mom is going to crochet for me - I can't wait until she gets it finished!

Noah getting some extra Nana time in.