Hotel Schuld

Jeremy got home last night after a week in OshKosh at the experimental aircraft conference. Noah and I were very excited to pick him up at the airport. He came home with a bag full of goodies ( new tools that he bought and a big windsock for our shed-more on that to come). We were glad to have him home!

Last night I checked into Hotel Schuld...which is actually Noah's bedroom. Noah stayed with Jeremy in the pack n play in our room, and it was just me...all by myself in a fantasticly comfortable bed for over 10 hours!!! I feel so refreshed, actually getting continuous sleep like that...first time in 2 months!!! It was wonderful!!!

Feeling Better

Noah is feeling better! Two month shots are almost just a memory, and my little boy is happy again!!! Daddy will be home in 2 hours!!!

2 month checkup

Noah had an early 2 month check-up today. I had a long list of questions, and I have been waiting for this appointment for 2 weeks! The doctor was wonderful, and I am even more confident in my choice of pediatricians. She spent a ton of time with us, and went down my list one item at a time.

My little boy is 13.8 pounds, which is in the 90 percentile. He is 23 inches long! He is growing big and strong, and the doctor was happy with where he is at with his developmental milestones (good thing, considering that is what I do for a living!). After a couple of changes to his diet and medications, the doctor thinks it may help him sleep better and longer, which will make for one happy mommy. Good to know I'm not crazy after all.

We also went ahead and did his 2 month shots, since he is almost there anyway. He was a champ with the shots at the office...but now my baby is hurting. But he is drugged up right now, and he is sitting in his bouncy seat sucking away...with one sweet little tazmanian devil bandaid on each leg. I plan to leave him there until he wakes up, since he finally looks comfortable. I just want to give him a big kiss and make everything better. I love that little guy!!!

Girlfriend Weekend

No new pictures today, just new memories! My friends Trinity and Rebecca came for the weekend! It was WONDERFUL to have them to visit, and it was so great that they got to meet Noah. :) We ate a lot of junk food, went to the movies, played lots of games (sequence and monopoly deal) and lounged around. Trinity was able to stay until Monday, and she was willing to watch Noah for me! I took advantage of the help and went to my dentist appointment and did a little couponing too. :)

(Rebecca is on the left, and Trinity is next to me on the right). Crystal couldn't make it...we are on the one month countdown till her little boy arrives!

I am so thankful for my girlfriends...it means a lot to me that they came to visit. It has been over 5 years since we all graduated college together, and even though life has changed, our friendship hasn't! :)

Thanks for making the drive girls!!! It was so much fun! Crystal, we are super excited for you!!!

The Power of Positive Thinking

Noah Loves Taking Naps!

Noah Watching

Here is how I watch Noah:

Jeremy set up a web cam so he and I can watch him from the computers or our cell phone when in our house on the network. It is wonderful, because when I hear him make noise, I can open up my cell phone ap and take a quick peak. It has made baby-watching a lot easier!!! Thank you to Jeremy for his wiring skills!

Tomato Eater Causing Problems

The situation with Beagle and the tomatoes has gotten bad. It is no longer funny, and is no longer even slightly cute! Beagle is EATING ALL OUR TOMATOES! Jeremy caught him picking this branch of three beautiful tomatoes off the vine...ruining all three! Boo!!! Also, the effect of tomatoes to his bowels has not been pretty. Now we are waking up to feed Noah AND to take Beagle outside several times a night! Yikes! Our garden is about 40 feet long by 4 feet wide, so that would be a huge fence...and suggestions???

Daddy and Noah

I went out to run a few errands last night and came home to this.

Daddy and Noah chillin on the couch watching the science channel.

I missed my baby, so I pulled out his little paci plug and worked a smile out of him.

I'm a little bias, but he sure is cute! :)

Tomato Eater

Last night:

Jeremy: "Smell Beagle's breath. I think his breath smells like tomatoes."

Me: "He must have gotten it off the ground. He would never eat tomatoes off the vine. "

Today:

Tomato eater CAUGHT!!! After I watched him eat TWO off the vine, I told him that was probably enough. Hopefully we will get enough ripe ones to do some canning this year! Surely Beagle can't eat them all!

Famous last words. :)

Going Out

Noah and I don't go out much. Actually, the only time we went out alone together was to an eye dr. appointment a few weeks ago. It is good, because he has stayed healthy...but over the past 6 weeks, going out has become scarier and scarier by the day.

Well, today I forgot to go get my coupons before Jeremy left for work. And there are some good diaper coupons in the paper this week. And there is only so much Say Yes To The Dress that one person can watch. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So Noah and I hit the road. And we lived to tell about it.

I got my newspapers, and I got adventurous enough to get the groceries for the week too. And going out hasn't messed Noah up for the whole day. Or week, or forever.

Even better, Mr. No-Nap-Noah napped. So I bought myself a frappe' to celebrate. Who knows, we may even do it again some day. :)

Happy Sunday

Stinky Hands

Noah's hands reek. I discovered this the other day when we were playing, and I opened them up and noticed lint. Thought that was odd, so I kept looking, and even took a sniff. Wow. I guess we failed to give them a good scrub in the tub. :)

But last night, while feeding Noah at a ridiculous hour, realized that Noah's little fisted hands mean a lot to me. They symbolize how helpless his little body is. How Jeremy and I have been entrusted in the care of this little guy. How he relies totally on us to feed him, clean him, change his little mickey mouse diaper, and take care of all of his needs. What an amazing thought! What a huge responsibility!

And even now, when the little man has barely taken a nap all morning, and I am SO tired, I realize how much I love that little fellow. How he is a million times more than I ever could have asked for, and how I just want to hold his little body all day long!

I'll just stay away from his hands until I can scrub them down really good. :)

Walgreens Haul

This was an awesome week to be a Walgreens shopper. I was so excited about the deals this week, I had to get moving as soon as I could. Sunday morning, I fed Noah (before 7!!!), dumped him off on Jeremy and went off to Walgreens. I used to be a Rite Aid shopper (and still am somewhat), but the deals haven't been as good lately, and they seem to be less friendly to couponers (imagine them not wanting me to make money "buying" products). :) So Walgreens it is for me. I had to go back a few times this week to stock up on products that I use, but it was so worth it. Here's what I got and what I paid (or got paid) to buy: :)

2 bottle clorox beach (we use this like crazy in the kitchen)- $.37 each

5 boxes of 40 count nursing pads (love the stock-up!)- $.24 each. Do you know that I paid $7.99 for a 60 count box at Walmart last month?!?! What a waste!
2 double packages of GUM toothbrushes- free (actually with my military discount it was a $.60 moneymaker)
4 boxes Hylands teething gel- $7.00 moneymaker
1 package Walgreens razor- free

2 packages of Noxema razors- $.54 each

I'm on a couponing high! Can't wait for next weeks sales!

On a side note, Noah is going on a field trip tomorrow...my neighbor has kindly offered to watch the little guy so I can sleep. I'm so excited for my nap time tomorrow! :)

On additional side note, my little chunker polished off 6.5 oz tonight for dinner!!! Hope those extra calories help him sleep longer tonight! :)

Yum!

During my temporary situation as a stay-at-home-blogger (I mean mother), I am working on some of my domestic skills. :) I am trying a few new recipes, folding a few loads of laundry and cleaning a window or two. Domestic skills are not really my thing, but I guess I can give them a try.

Anyway, I was trying to figure out what to do with my green beans that I blogged about the other day. We were supposed to bring them over to our friends house for dinner, and I was trying to get creative. Technically Jeremy cooked the green beans since I was stuck on the couch trying to jam some milk into my baby before our social outing. But I'm taking partial credit...someone has to feed the boy.

So here's the recipe...I REALLY recommend it. The green beans are so sweet and crunchy, it is almost like a dessert.

Caramelized Green Beans with Walnuts

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter

1 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/4 teaspoon salt

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add green beans, cook and stir for about 5 minutes. Mix in walnuts and pour in water. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until very little water is in the pan.

Add the salt, white sugar and brown sugar; stir until beans and walnuts are evenly coated. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cook slightly before serving.

There are definitely more caramelized green beans in our future!

Noah Smiles

We were able to catch a few of Noah's brand new smiles on camera tonight!!!

Love that gummy little mouth!

3 minute Blog

I'm so excited I can hardly stand it. I'm excited because:

1. The deals at Walgreens are amazing tomorrow. I almost made a midnight run, but it is raining and I didn't want to take the risk for a free toothbrush.

2. Jeremy is feeding Noah at 3 this morning, so I should be able to get 7 whole hours of sleep!!!

3. My baby is hurting less: more on this to come, but his medicine for reflux seems to be working, along with our new inclined sleeping position, Noah had a few long naps today, and is sleeping better (not getting my hopes up too early though), and overall seems happier.

4. Noah smiled. 4 times yesterday, and 3 1/2 today. Hopefully we can watch it on camera soon.

This is a 3 minute post because the bottle is coming out of the steamer (which is microwaved on high for 3 minutes) and the microwave is beeping.

Now I can go to bed!!!

Hopefully I can enjoy my 7 hours even though my excitement is overflowing!!!

TeePee

I went out to the garden this afternoon to take a quick peek at what was growing. Our tomatoes need to be tied up, and Jeremy picked about 10 big green bell peppers. I gave a nice plump eggplant to our neighbor (in exchange for some homemade zucchini bread...yum!). But what really surprised me was our green bean teepee!!! Holy cow...look what I found!

And there are TONS of them! We invited ourselves over to our good friends house for dinner tomorrow, so I will pick more and make some green bean dish to bring. I can't even believe how much longer and plumper the pole beans. I got the seeds from the co-op (they are rattlesnake beans), but I don't know if it was the seeds or the teepee, but either way, I like it!!!

And just for fun, here is a picture of my hubby and my baby that I took this morning!

Love them!!!

Wing Kit

Jeremy has been saving up in his airplane fund for the next kit for his airplane. With a good bit to go, he got the opportunity to buy the kit from another plane builder in Atlanta who was selling his. The guy was having some financial difficulties and was selling his brand new kit at a significant discount. Jeremy was the only bidder on the kit, so off he went to Atlanta. Several hours of inventory later, the truck was loaded up and headed back to Columbus. What a good deal for Jeremy! Now he can start on the wings several months early! :) More pictures to come.

Rite Aid Score

A few weeks ago, I made out really well at Rite Aid. There was a super sale on Renpure Organic shampoo. It was on sale for $2.99, and after the purchase, you get $2.99 up+ points (which is basically a store credit that you can use on anything). So basically, free (except tax).

I wasn't able to get in on Sunday, so I totally expected the shampoo to be gone when I got there on Monday. IT WASN'T!!! :) Not only was it not gone, the renpure was packed as a double pack with a shampoo and conditioner combined at the same price ($2.99)!!! The limit was two, so I got 2 double packs, paid $6 and got $6 back.

Attached to the top of the double packs was a mail in rebate for $3. I heard that if you paid with (and got back) up+ points, that renpure wasn't honering the rebate, since technically you didn't pay anything.

Well, it was worth a try, so I sent in for 2 mail in rebates (one for me and one for Jeremy), and yesterday my rebate check arrived!!!

I MADE $6 to take home 2 organic shampoos, and 2 organic conditioner! I have never even had organic shampoo, let alone to have it for free!!! AWESOME!

What's This For?

For the purposes of this blog, please pretend that you don't notice my recently-pregnant-not-skinny-yet-belly.

Now that we have that established...what is the slit in the back of the swaddle sack for? Last night around 2:30am, I was digging around in a box labeled "swaddle blankets", and I discovered this swaddle sack. Actually, I discovered two of them, and they are totally adorable and highly functional....love them! Noah can't totally escape out of them either...although his little left hand has made an appearance during 2 naps.

I noticed this slit in the back, at butt-cheek level. Which makes me think that it might be a poop-checker/smeller slit. After doing a few minutes of online research, some people suggested that the slit is for car seat swaddling. It seems that people are really confused about what the slit is for.

So that brings me to the question of this blog: What is the slit for, and have you every used it for anything (even if your use is not included in the above two scenario)?

Pictures of the slit are included below:

Far Away (whole body) Picture

Slit Close Up (those are hippos on the pj's underneath, not part of the slit):

Rolls

Noah is going through a growth spurt. It is painful. I read on the internet that when your child goes through a growth spurt, rent a movie and for 2-3 days sit in front of the TV and breast-feed. Noah went from a beautiful 3 hour schedule during the day and 4 1/2 hours at night to starving at 2 1/2 hours all day!!! He is inhaling 4-5 oz at each feeding. The internet said to take a picture when the growth spurt starts because he will look visibly bigger in a few days. That is...if we both survive the next few days. For now, enjoy a few pictures of my baby's beautiful rolls.

(ignore the booger)