18 Months. Or Not.

First of all...when did my baby turn into a little boy? 

He's so grown and just so handsome...I want to wake his sleeping butt up and give him a squeeze.

I won't, because that would just go horribly wrong, but I want to.

 My baby is almost a year and a half.

I really wanted his picture in his handsome church outfit.

It started out like this (which should have been a clue that it wasn't going to go well): 

 And ended like this:

And he wasn't the only one crying.

Oh well.

We will try again next weekend!  

Love that kid.

But I will leave him in bed for tonight.

2012 Ornament

My ornament came!

Every year I buy one ornament to summarize the year (or a big event that happened that year).

This year, we really haven't had any big events.

Jeremy didn't deploy, which was wonderful.

We just stayed home and watched Noah grow from a chubby little squirt into the wild toddler he is today.

And it has been fantastic.

:)

This is my ornament for this year, thanks to a seller on Etsy (my new obsession).

Paci Lover

I have a problem and I really don't know what to do about it.

My kid is mute, and I'm to blame.

I'm sure he could probably say more.

If I could take that stupid pacifier away.

It is just that he was practically birthed with the paci in his mouth, and he just LOVES it!

And trust me, it has been well worth the "muteness", because it has saved us SO many times.

He says a few things.

He says bye bye (which sounds like "ga ga", but come with a wave, so I'm pretty convinced it is bye bye.)

He says "uh ho".

And he is beginning to say "ball" and "hot".

Sometimes I think he is saying "thank you", but I'm not too sure about that.

But he is a paci lover.

I have taken it away during the day time.

For the most part...but sometime I'm a sucker.

He signs "eat" but he really wants his paci.

In my defense, he had a late start on his hearing.  ;)

We will go with that one, right?

I'm hoping to see some major leaps in language coming up here in the next few months.

Clearly its not a priority though.

Its hard to complain with a huge piece of plastic jammed up in your mouth.

Black Friday Savings

So we are staying home for Black Friday. 

No rushing, no lines, no deals.

Well, some deals, but online shopping only.

But last night I did do a quick run out to Walgreens.

Yeah, I quit Walgreens, but the Black Friday deals allowed me to MAKE over $20 (to spend on things we need like cereal, etc).

So Noah and I went out. 

I should have left him home, but when he saw me get my keys, he went running to his car door.

And he was really good.  

Thanks to the lollipop bribe I bought him.

We got lots of good stuff...toothbrushes, tooth paste, hair ties, shampoo, conditioner, cereal, 90 cal barownies, vitamins, and more.

The cashier had a lot of patience and was very helpful.

But here is the best part:

The 100% savings on the bottom of the receipt!  I saved $160!!!  SOOO happy about that!  I am considering another quick run out, but I'm trying to talk myself out of it because of the traffic!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Out of Space

I came on here to post out hilarious family picture, in which Jeremy and I were really not prepared to be in, and Noah looks mad at the world.  But Google has just notified me that I am "Whoops! You're out of space. You are currently using 100% of your 1 GB quota for photos."  

I have been blogging for 4 years, with lots of pictures,  but have never had this happen to me!  Anyone know anything about it?  I did a little bit of research, and found it to be a somewhat common problem, and in order to fix it you have to buy more space.  Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am SO NOT GOING TO buy more space.  I may have to change blog addresses.  

I will try to post the funny picture tomorrow, when my head is a little clearer and when I can *hopefully* breathe a little better.  I am trying to wean off the nasal spray, and it is not pretty.  

Happy Thanksgiving Eve.

Sick

I woke up sick today.
Last night I had a little hint of "not feeling good".
And then today, I'm defiantly sick.
I'm sneezing, sniffling, and most of all I'm spraying.

My little boy has been SO good today.
It was a perfect day to stay on the couch in PJs, but when you have a little one, that is not always an option.
But Noah has been so cooperative.
Didn't sit in time out even once.
Didn't cry or whine or complain.
Played independently and quietly all morning.
Took an almost 3 hour nap.  So did I.

We went to Chick Fil A for breakfast.
He needed a little encouragement to go back into the tubes in the play yard.
We went to Walgreens to coupon a little.
He was a great little errand partner.
But most of all we sat on the couch and watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
Or Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

And then tonight we went out to Sonic for a late night treat.
I'm using "we" loosely, cause even though Noah went, the treat was just for me.
Well, it was supposed to be for me, but he got his chubby little hands on it, and wow, it was not easy to get it back!  I would compare it to when they rolled him away for his tube surgery.
But it was quickly forgotten, and he is snug as a bug in a rug.
And I'm headed that way too.
Hopefully tomorrow is just as smooth.  :)

Watching

It is weird because he is watching.

And he doesn't look like he is.

But you know that he is, because he does things that I have never shown him.

Like try to put keys in the door.

(And I rarely do that when he is around).

Like try to plug things in (yikes!!!)

Like practice sweeping and mopping things.

Like pick up piles of leaves and try to put them into the fire.

It really surprises me when he does things like that.

Because I'm not actually teaching him anything, but he is picking it up anyway.

It is not that I don't think he is smart.

Because I know he is.

It is just amazing what his little brain can take in.

It is just great to watch him grow and develop.

And there is SO much more to come.

The Move

Where we are moving as of this week: Belleville IL

Move date for Jeremy and dogs:  Feb 25th

Move date for Jamie and N:  March 11th

Date for Columbus house closing:  Feb 25th

Belleville is a city about a half hour east of St Louis MO.

They have an Olive Garden, a Chipotle, a CVS, a SUPER Target and a Kohls.

And SO much more.

It is kind of a bitter sweet move, as we are excited for the many opportunities that IL has for us (and many opportunities that we don't even know about yet!), but there are several things about the move that are not so great.  More on that to come. 

So that is the latest.

Keep us in mind here as we begin to wrap up the loose ends here, and prepare to make yet another move!  

PS, anyone have a spare snow blower?  I think I might need it.

Love Him

Day by day I don't feel like time flies.

But then I look back at pictures from one year ago, and wonder where the time has gone?

Not every day is easy.

There are days that are more challenging than others.

But this little boy has just changed our lives.

And our hearts.

There is no going back...he is ours to keep!

Traveling

I feel like I have been gone forever!  

We went to Cave City Kentucky.

We stayed at a campground in a cabin for 3 days.

We made fires, visited multiple national parks, and stamped till our hearts were content.

Noah was such a trooper.

We probably drove 20 hours in the car, and Noah was great.

He just sat in the back seat and watched movies.

It was interesting now how travel has changed.

Rest stops are now planned around a McDonalds play yards.

Whatever works, right?

We got back on Wednesday.

Less than 24 hours later, I headed out of town.  Alone.  Weird, right?

My second night away from Noah ever.

I went to a continuing ed conference in Memphis with 4 co-workers.

Halfway back where we came from.

More driving.  Only less stops.  And no play yards.  :)

So I'm back now.  In my home, and in my bed and in the shower without flip flops.

Here are a few pictures from our trip.

We also got professional pictures taken this morning, so I'm excited to share them soon.

I'll post some more tomorrow, as well as some exciting updates and news about upcoming plans.

Can't wait to enjoy the long weekend!

A Little Arrogant

We left Columbus around 2 to start our fall trip.
It was supposed to happen 3 weeks ago, but the cabin wasn't available.  
But this week is great too...the leaves are just right, and the temperature is perfect.

We drove an hour or so.  Then stopped to get Noah his very first national park stamp.
It was a jackpot visitor center because there was actually 8 stamps there because of special events.
He did a great job on his very first stamp.

Then we drove a few hours.
Noah never slept, but he was happy!  Just staring away at his DVD player.
Wonder how many baby brain cells we killed today.

We stopped for dinner.
We ended up at cici's because of various reasons.
Jeremy ate healthy.
Noah and I did not.
He is probably the only one year old who can smell his way to the brownies on the buffet.
He gets that from his mama.

We got him in his pjs, milk cup and paci in hand, and loaded back up.
Worked out great cause he fell asleep 15 minutes before we got to our hotel.
Drove another hour, and ended up at a holiday inn.
Man, we are high rolling.
Free soap, coffee, and even "make up removal wipes". 
And we are just one mile away from target.
Jeremy checked us in and set up the pack and play.
I carried the sleeping child in...and best of all...he never woke up.

So here I sit, 9 pm, in a great hotel, with a sleeping kid, attempting to slather on as much free lotion as I can.

It is just one of those moments when you get a little cocky, and look at each other and say "I think we just might be getting the hang of this parenting thing". 

Mom...this is a personal plea to remind me of this moment when I call you crying over something stupid next week.
Or at 5am when my child is standing in his pack and play screaming, and all I want to do is shove 2 free Cotten balls down so far I can't hear him.