Last 24

Up throughout the night.

My baby was restless and coughing a lot.

We woke up and decided he needed a trip to Urgent Care.

The doctor was rude.

"Has he sounded like this all week?

Why was he taking steroids in the first place?

He shouldn't get on a plane like this.

If you had come in yesterday we could have done more."

Bronchiolitis.

Mild respiratory distress.

Not recommended to fly home today.

A breathing treatment.

A nebulizer to take home.

Every 4-6 hours.

A new plane ticket.

A nap for Noah and Mommy.

My nap depression is lifting.

I'm glad I still have it in me.

A happy baby, surprisingly.

A restful, quiet day.

Headed home in the morning.

Glad my baby is feeling better.

3 More

Really tired, headed to bed soon.

Early, and late morning all at once.

N woke up at 5. A quick feeding and sleeping again till 7:45. Totally against my sleeping through the night policy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And we are on vacation.

Quick visit to Joe at his house.

Noah's sick and not allowed inside.

Noah visited Grammy for the afternoon.

Snuck cookies out of her tin.

Visited my parents house under construction.

Holy cow, that house is gonna be awesome.

Lots of closet room for multiple pack n plays. :)

Pushed Charlotte around at the San Tan mall.

She really likes waving at me.

Opened a few more fun gifts at Terry's...even N started to get the hang of pulling paper off.

We are so spoiled!

Wrestled the babies for a few pictures in their Santa diapers.

So cute.

To Oregeno's for dinner.

So stuffed. Need a wheelbarrow to get home.

Diaper change, Pjs

A visit from Aunt Gina and Uncle Peter.

Charlotte loves Aunt Gina's bling-bling. :)

Looks like trouble already!

N in bed at Grandpa Schulds by 7:30.

Me doing laundry and trying to shove massive amounts of stuff into two bags.

Missing my hubs.

Having a great time, family is the best!

Goodnight! Only 3 more in 2011!

24 FAST hours

Woke up early. Seems to be a running theme here.

Bundled up for a neighborhood walk with Grandpa the Great.

Think we surprised him that we actually woke up for it. :)

Coyote and havalina hunting.

Unsuccessful this morning, but still fun to walk/drive around and watch the sun rise.

A huge poop, and a trip to the new bath seat. (not me, by the way).

Pictures at 10 at Kitty Grandma's church.

No smiling, but no crying either, so all together a win.

Trying new foods: turkey, cheese, bread, black beans, green beans.

So much for trying one new food every three days.

Nap, yes I said nap, for ALL in the afternoon.

I wanted a picture of me in bed to memorialize the special event.

Peed on himself during the nap and woke up cranky.

Recovered, and perked up on the drive to Terry's.

More food, Mexican.

Especially Marcy's bean dip. YUM YUM YUM

Games and more presents.

Dessert, and my new favorite thing: Keurig coffee maker.

I didn't realize I needed one of these in my life.

I am SO buying one when I get home.

Drove the Phoenix road back to G-pa Schulds.

Shower, brush, baby sleeping.

Quiet, comfortable, relaxing.

How did today go by so fast?

On a side note, my little baby is such a trooper. We took him to the doctor last Thursday before we left. He has a nasty cold. That little boy has been my little sidekick for 4 days now. He is his happy, smiling self, despite his nasty cough and drippy nose that continues to linger. He just goes with the flow, letting me drag him from one event to the next. I wish his cough would go away...it is so sad to watch him try to clear his little lungs out. I love that little guy so much!!!

24 More

Woke up early.

Too early.

"Dark early".

I was mad about it.

Tour of Grandpa the Great's backyard, complete with a take home bag of grapefruits.

Freshly squeezed orange juice, and another big fat english muffin.

A quick nap for N.

And I mean quick. I was mad about that too.

Baby shower for Stephanie.

A skype shower.

Great company, great food, great games.

A sweet letter from a college roommate that had everyone in tears.

Jean shopping for me at Target.

Target has an interesting new (?) concept on jean sizing.

Bought Noah a pair of jeans.

Size 18 month.

Too tight on the belly, 4 inches too long.

Returned Noah's jeans, bonded with Danielle.

More food, and a YMCA trip for some.

I skipped.

I'm still sore from the torturous run yesterday.

Cousins playing, diaper changing, jumping, jumping, jumping.

Trying new foods: mashed potatoes and black beans.

Charlotte got to lick a cupcake.

Charlotte in the woombie and the moby.

Not a fan, but a good sport though. :)

A quick drive around Grandpa the Great's neighborhood to check out christmas lights.

To bed early.

Well, earlier.

For both of us.

We miss you Stephanie!

The Next 24

The boy slept through the night.

I needed that.

We woke up at 5:30, (6:30 our time...which is a normal time for us to get up and go to daycare).

We tried out Noah's new bath chair, and washed some of the stink off of my kid.

He loved it. I loved it.

Coffee with Grandpa and Grandma Schuld.

A yummy English Muffin and fruit danish.

I think I am officially afraid of coyotes and havalinas.

Christmas with the Ciottas.

An adorable Christmas outfit and Santa diapers.

Cousins meeting for the first time.

Loving my one and only niece.

Pacifier wars. Noah lost.

Lots of food throughout the day...scrambled eggs, monkey bread, soup, shrimp coctail, chocolate, blue bell (I'm in a serious food coma)

Grandma Longo would have been proud.

Skyping with my wonderful hubby.

A 3.5 mile run with my sisters and Adam.

I didn't die, and I might consider doing it again another day.

Wonderfully long naps for Noah. In a closet. On a blanket on the floor. He loved it.

No cranky baby today.

A visit with Aunt Gina and Uncle Peter.

First time meeting in real life.

Nobody peed, pooped or spit up. (Well, one poop, but the diaper caught it)

Quick to bed before the crankiness starts.

Another restful night ahead of us at Grandpa-the-Great's house.

Sounds like there are big plans for tomorrow. :) What a great way to spend Christmas.

24 hours

Wow. A lot has happened in the last 24 hours.

Our plane was delayed.

Delta rescheduled us.

We left Columbus, Noah slept the whole way (1 hour).

A very nice friend of Jeremys was also flying out, and he helped me get through security and board and de-board.

We landed in Atlanta.

I changed Noah's diaper and put his pajamas on.

We left Atlanta, and Noah slept the whole way (4 hours).

We landed at midnight, and were in bed by 2 am (3 my time).

Noah stirred and cried all night (what was left of it).

Woke up at 6:30.

Threw up three times (no, I'm not pregnant. just SO tired and headachey).

I took a short nap, Noah boycotted.

Missed Santa's visit (see comment 2 lines above).

Went to Jeremy's parents house.

Ate everything in sight (it was wonderful).

Opened presents...Noah got a beautiful puppy quilt.

Ate more, round 2.

Went to church with my parents.

"Glow stick" lit service. :)

Chili and Terry and Ken's. Hungry again.

Drove to Grandpa Schulds with a screaming, over-tired, over-stimulated baby from a long day of no-napping.

Hi to Grandpa-the-great and Great Grandma.

Diaper change, pajamas, woombie.

Into the closet in the pack and play.

Dark, quiet, comfortable.

Breathing for the first time all day. :)

Can't wait to do it all over again tomorrow.

Missing My Old Friend "Sleep"

We are really tired. We go to bed tired and we wake up tired. We are tired pretty much the whole time in between. I really don't know why we are tired...we go to bed early (in fact 9 pm is WAY past our bedtime), our sweet baby boy sleeps through the night, the temperature is perfect, and our bed in comfortable.

6 months ago, this little fella:

came into our lives, and gone were those beautiful days of sleeping in till 11 and then taking an afternoon nap. It is just like we can't get caught up! Sometimes I get a little depressed about that. Sleeping is one of my favorite hobbies. :) I've always needed a lot of sleep. My mom used to call it "marathon sleeping"...that is when you come home from school, go right to bed, and don't get up until it is time for school the next morning. Sigh. I miss that.

Also we are now taking care of Rio, who has a very annoying habit of going outside in the middle of the night. At least once a night, every night. I really don't know what he does out there. I would like to think that is the brain tumor, causing some sort of miscommunication about when he has to pee, but really I think he just likes to go out and run around the backyard at 3 am. Anyway, I don't know which it is because the one time I didn't let him out, I got out of bed and stepped in the Nile River of pee. That was really fun, and I think he did that on purpose.

I'm not rushing these wonderful days and months with my little squirt. Such a tiny little package...just bigger than a football. I'm not rushing, but seriously, how old do they have to be when you say "mommy is sleeping in...don't come out of your room till 11". :) just kidding.

I don't mean to be a complainer. Functioning when I'm tired is something I've never really been good at though. I'm learning though...and that extra cup of coffee doesn't really hurt anything either.

Sharing

Thank you so much dear baby. I am so glad to share that you have learned to share at such a young age. An early Christmas gift...how wonderful!!! Pink eye for all!

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of what I have been working on:

Sisters, this might mean something to you...:) How did I always get to be the one to put baby Jesus up on the 24th? :)

Also, we made some Christmas candy this morning. It was slightly...overdone, but seriously, how could this taste bad? :)

Sitting Up

Check out how well my baby sits up! He just started sitting up this week. I really enjoy watching him sit in his boppy as he explores his environment.

I've noticed in a lot of my pictures, this little fella looks cross eyed. I promise he isn't (I don't think), but the swelling from the pink eye makes him look that way. Oh well...crossed eyed or not, he is still pretty cute in my opinion.

Surprisingly, he is pretty stable! That is really nice for me, because I run and wash a few bottles, or fold laundry while he sits! I think he really feels like a big boy!!!

Speaking of big boy...he weighs 19 pounds 1 ounce! This is going to be hard to believe, but he is actually only in the 50-75% for his age. :) I love my good sturdy baby...even though everyone feels the need to comment on his weight. :)

And for Danielle, who wanted to see what kind of hair Noah has (or doesn't have), here is a close up! :)

Challenging

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying. The last few weeks have been...challenging. Noah has a lot going on.

• He got his 6 month shots (including a flu shot this round).
• He has eczema. Its pretty rough. I lube him up with vaseline every night. He is so slippery, he could slip right through a tiny tube.
• He has pink eye. If you have never had that before, it's really not fun.
• He has two brand new teeth.
• He really can't physically do a lot (still working on rolling), but he wants to. I think it is really frustrating to be stuck in one place when there is a lot going on around you.

Thank goodness I stocked up on infant advil at Walgreens this week. Click on that link...see "thanks....Jamie..." at the bottom of that awesome deal? That is totally me!!!

• In the last few days, he has gotten a lot better at putting his own pacifier in. Considering all of the above, that is really helpful. :) Sometimes it is upside down.
• He can roll, but only from back to belly, and only to the right.
• But he is getting better at holding himself up when he is sitting.
• And he can push up on his hands when he is on his belly for short periods of time.
• I'm considering dropping his late night (10pm) feeding. Maybe after the new year.
• I'm also considering retiring as a baby food maker. Its a lot of work. Right not I have my hands full.

I love this little guy. He is the best thing that ever happened to us. By a LONG shot. He is awesome, but that doesn't mean it is easy.

Couponing Wife

Three Tips to Supporting Your Couponing Wife. Read this, and it is SO true!!! Enjoy!!!

Early Christmas

We gave the little squirt his Christmas gift early. We weren't planning on doing it, but he is teething, and we are all pretty miserable, so we wanted to lighten things up a bit.

He loved it. He was reqlly kind of obsessed with turning the pages in this plastic book.We have one of these leap frog tables at work, and the kids love it. It is easy to clean and kids can work on standing, pulling up, cruising, tall kneeling, whatever. I was hoping it will be a good developmental toy for Noah.
He had had a lot of fun with it so far...

Merry Christmas baby! We love you!

Photo Books

Sorry in advance for the awful pictures. What I'm about to show you...the pictures totally don't do it justice.

I heard about a deal from snapfish, buy one get two free photo books. I'm obsessed with photo books, the 8x8 variety. I'm not sure how many I have, probably around 10 or so. Everything from our honeymoon to several other random events.

I've been wanting to make an ABC book for Noah, ever since I saw Corissa's blog on hers. I'm really a shutterfly addict, but who can turn down 2 free books? Really, even after the free books, I'm still a bigger fan of shutterfly (more user friendly and the books turn out better).

So I made an ABC book. Snapfish's website made manipulating the pictures a little harder than I expected, but I'm still very happy with it.

Here are a few of the pages:

P and Q

X and Y (wow those are hard letters!)
I also made a "my family book". I put pictures of our family next to their names....that way Noah will know who everyone is right away! (just don't ever change clothes or hair styles).

Here are a few of those pages:

Lastly I put together a quickie of our fall trip to the park. All three turned out really nicely. I'm so glad to have these for Noah!

White Bowl Mystery

I have this pretty little white bowl. I got it from Target, and it was $4. But it really doesn't look like it only costs $4. (I added these mini bananas to the bowl so you can get an idea on size).

This afternoon, it sat on my counter, about 1/2 full with leftover brownies that I made for a Christmas party this weekend.

I ran out to return something to the Dollar Store. Probably not worth my time, effort, or gas, but none the less, I went out. Away from the brownies in the white bowl on the counter.

When we got back home, Noah and I were opening the mail and swinging in the outdoor swing. Noah was mid-swing when I happened to look through the back door and see a crumpled up piece of plastic wrap on the counter. And no $4 white brownie dish.

I went running inside, expecting to see the bowl shattered all over the kitchen floor. But it wasn't. I started searching around for the bowl. In the laundry room, the shop, the bedroom, Noah's bedroom, outside. It was no where to be found. Even Jeremy joined in the search. We checked under the couch, under the pillows, up in the woods. No where. (and then I frantically remembered my kid, mid-swing, not at all interested in my white-bowl search). (just kidding. kind of).

Oh well, it was only $4. And heaven help the dog that ate all of those brownies.

It wasn't until about 45 minutes later, a very suspicious beagle started knocking on our china cabinet. We looked at him, and looked at each other, and we checked under the china cabinet. There it was. Totally still intact. Flipped over, covering 2 brownies. So we gave on to beagle...a reward of sorts for finding our bowl. And because he probably didn't get one the first time.

Wouldn't you have liked to be a fly on the wall during this escapade? Rio getting up on the counter, everyone getting scared when the bowl fell, trying to get the brownies out of the flipped over bowl, pushing and pushing until it went out of reach under the cabinet....ahh the life of a dog.

At least the mystery is solved, and I can go to bed tonight not wondering where in my house that bowl is hidden!!!

6 Months

He turned 6 months on Friday.

He is simply the best.

He has been working on cutting those teeth for the past two weeks.

He has been grumpy and irritable.

But I still can't get enough of him.

I had no idea being a mom would be this awesome.

I hope every month just gets better and better.

I love that little guy.

All I Want For Christmas

Want to see my boy's first two teeth???

Aren't they wonderful!!!

Two sharp whities on the bottom.

He is so stinkin cute!!!

Love this guy!!!

Bethlehem

Last night we went to Bethlehem. :) The church that Noah goes to daycare at puts on a major event every other year, and it opened up last night! We loaded up our little rain deer (see pictures below), and went to check it out. These pictures don't even do it justice...they had about 20 little huts, each one representing a shop or school or inn (even though there was no room in the inn) like it would have been in Bethlehem. It was so neat and so well put together. Everyone was dressed up and "in character". We got to taste Jacob's soup, meet the woman at the well, see a metal worker shop, a school, the inn, and the stable where Jesus was born...it was amazing the time and effort that was put into this event. It was fun to get us into the true spirit of Christmas.

(don't worry, we know him. And Noah really liked his beard)

Christmas Happenings

Our Christmas tree is up and we I love it!!! We got a Blue Spruce which is much more agressive than I anticipated (we had to wear gloves to decorate it). We also tried a new placement of it this year...instead of in front of the window, we put it right in the middle of our living room so we could look at it every night. I love the new position!!! It makes it much more Christmasy in our house! Perfect for a fire and some hot chocolate.

We also got our ornament for this year...of course a baby in a blue swaddle for our big "event" of the year (they didn't make woombie babies). :)

Happy December 1st!!!

Tooth

What an awesome weekend!

It was so nice to enjoy the 4 day weekend...wish we could every week! Our weekend was complete with eating (and cone-ing), a little shopping, napping, airplane-ing, putting up our Christmas tree, cooking, church...it was awesome. :)

Not so nice: teething. About a week ago, Noah started to get really grumpy and was waking up at night (more than once too!). I had no idea what was going on...everything seemed normal, but his cry was more of a pain cry then just I-don't-want to-sleep cry. So this went on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. I thought maybe constipation. I even gave him prune juice. Maybe ear infection...he kept playing with his right ear (you can even see in the picture above how he scratched at his head and ear). I gave him Tylenol. I even checked for new teeth...but nothing was there! And then Wednesday I felt it. A little baby tooth, coming in through the bottom gum. You can't see it yet (not well enough to take a picture), but you can feel it! I was not glad he is hurting, but I was glad to know why. So we have been taking good care of my teething little boy. Ice, tylenol, orajel, teething biscuits (which Beagle loves), wet wash clothes. :) And he seems to be perking up already. He slept though the night the last two nights. For this little tooth, I think the worst is over. I'm not rushing the next one! I have to admit, I'm a little sad. I'm going to miss that gummy smile of his, but I bet the one-tooth smile will be just as adorable. I'm just glad my happy and smilie little buddy is back, tooth or no tooth.

Freezer Cooking

I've been a cooking fool today. My freezer was empty and we have been living off of egg sandwiches for the past week. With 3 days off of work, I had no excuse but to fill my freezer back up (with something besides ice cream). I tried to do most of the cooking during Noah's naps, but he did some jumping while I cooked too. Here is the final count:

2 Chicken Enchiladas

8 buffalo chicken calzones

2 Turkey Hashbrown casseroles

4 Turkey Burgers

2 Ranch Chicken Dishes

2 Chicken Parm

11 Twice Baked Potatoes

2 Shreded BBQ Chicken

4 Taco Dinners (2 turkey, 2 chicken)

15 Turkey Balls

I made over 20 dinners! We should be set for a good while. I'm so happy to be done and have a clean kitchen. Now where is my ice cream scooper? :)

Walgreens Black Friday

Between just us friends, I was so excited about the black Friday deals at Walgreens, I got a headache. I was planning to go before work this morning, but Thursday evening Noah was napping and Jeremy was airplane-ing, so on a whim I called Walgreens and the man said that their sales were up and running. I half expected everything to be gone because I didn't know the sales started that day. But I got EVERYTHING I wanted (and then some).

Here's what I got:

3 wrapping paper, buy 1 get 2 free

9 arm & hammer detergent, buy 1 get 2 free (side note...I asked Jeremy if he thought we had enough detergent now, and he said "jamie, we will be moving with some of that detergent next year")

2 infant advil (MUCH needed right now)

1 bic disposable razors

Sparkling grape juice

huggies wipes,

flosser sticks

lip stick

aleve

gilette shave gel

tooth brushes

tooth paste

hair elastics

batteries (buy 1 get 2 free)

paper towels

preparation H ($2 moneymaker).

My grand total? $12

I also went to Rite Aid and got shampoo, hand soap, more hair elastics, deodorant, and a few more things. I'm glad, because my stash of deo for Jeremy was down to only one, and they had the kind that he likes for only 50 cents.

This was my first couponing black friday, and I really enjoyed it. I never would have though about black friday at a drug store, but what do you know! :)

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving! Hope this picture brings back some fun memories of all the wonderful Thanksgivings that we have celebrated!

Jeremy and I have so much to be thankful for:

our baby boy

two wonderful and loving families

coffee

a king size bed

stable jobs

a cozy, remodeled house

a fireplace

flannel PJ pants

orajel, pacifiers, and children's tylenol (are you seeing a theme here)

3 furry friends

lunch with friends

coupons

drills

Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

1 year

I can't believe it has been a whole year since Grandma Longo passed away. We sure do miss her! I would have really loved to introduce her to Noah. She would have enjoyed that. And he probably would have come home with a set of china all his own. :) We miss you Grandma!

75% off coats!

This morning, Jeremy and I hit up Old Navy's Doorbuster 75% off outerwear sale. Oh yeah. We hit the road early, and we are so glad we did. There were probably about 60 people in line, and the coats, especially the women's coats were getting a good beating.

I managed to find THREE wonderful coats (none more than $25 after the 75% off). I haven't bought myself a coat since I worked at American Eagle in high school. **Actually that AE pea coat is still hanging in my closet..and ten years later one baby later, it still fits. :) It just looks a little rough. So I grabbed these three beauties...two pea coat type jackets, and one poofy and warm jacket for those cold, miserable days (and also for a possible Alaska assignment...yikes!!).

Jeremy also found three beauties. One poofy down jacket, one rugged man jacket, and a nice one for church.

We are stocked up on coats for a long time...and for so cheap too!!! What a great shopping trip! (ps- they also took two of our $5 off a $25 dollar purchase, making it even cheaper!!!).

Also, they have a 75% off sweater sale going on tomorrow from 12-5, but I'm not sure I feel like wrestling the crowds again tomorrow! Enough shopping fun for one weekend.

A Lick A Day

A lick a day keeps the doctor away. Or maybe not, considering my last post, but is sure is good for the spirit. Especially if it is in a cone, and especially if it is blue bell.

Meet my nightly bad habit:

YUM!!!

Shot in the Butt

I'm sick of being sick. I've been sick, on and off for over 1.5 months. I'm so over it.

Today I puked three times. Before I even got to work. I've got snot, a cough, a headache and now puke. I couldn't even drink my coffee on the way to work, which made things 100x worse.

So I broke down and went to the doctor. I begged her for the miraculous shot. The steroid shot in the butt. She agreed.

Ahhh. I'm feeling better already. I don't know if it is psychological, but I swear it is already working. And my blue bell cone helped too.

I'm going to bed early. I can't wait to wake up in the morning feeling better.

Elijah

Welcome to the world Mr. Elijah Braun! We are so glad you are here! Congratulations Stephanie and Jeyson...we are SOOOO happy for you!!! What a cutie! I can't wait to squeeze him!

Mississippi Fall

Fall is here and I LOVE IT! :) The humidity is (slowly) going down, the windows are open and the fresh air is blowing! This has been such a pretty fall...red, orange and yellow leaves!!! The little man has been enjoying stroller walks and swinging in his outdoor swing.

They say in Mississippi, we go from air conditioning to heat in the same day...and it is so true. He had to turn the upstairs heat on for Noah at night to keep him, and my electric blanket is up and running.

I love fall, and fall in Mississippi is especially nice! We got news this past week that we will most likely get to spend another fall here...so that means another garden, and another pool opening, and one more season of grass mowing here!

We are enjoying every minute!

Park Pictures

We had a pretty relaxing weekend. We took the little man to the park for the first time. We helped him climb trees, ride the frog see-saw thing, go down the slide, and of course an little pine needle eating. He was very serious, looking around, taking it all in. We took Beagle too, and he rolled in poop, which was totally not cool. Noah spent the rest of the weekend bouncing in his little jumper thing...I guess he finally figured out how to work it, and he fell in love!

Back to work tomorrow...so glad we could spend a fun weekend together!

(see the poop on Aileron's face? gag)