Keeping Up With the Jones'

For Gina

2010-02-17T16:14:00.002-08:00

Thanks for checking this blog every day Gina. You don't go unnoticed. Hope you had a fab birthday. Miss you and can't wait to see you again SOON!!

Wow...it's been a while...

2009-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

This blog has CONSTANTLY been on my mind. Why you ask? Because since we have moved I haven't updated it once! So much going on! Adam took a principal position at our church's Christian Day school. We found out that we're expecting a little girl whom we are planning on naming Jennalyn Faith. Noah had his first birthday party. He is eating everything and walking everywhere. Time has flown by! We don't have internet in our house yet AND somewhere in the move we lost the camera cord to put pictures from our camera to our computer. Bummer. I've had to do it all by other ways. Soon as we get internet i'll be uploading some pictures so don't you worry. Just wanted to let you all know we are alive and well. We absolutely LOVE bein up here with our families and back at our home church. I'll be on again soon...hopefully :-)

Top Ten Reasons We're Moving!

2009-06-21T15:22:00.000-07:00

I've been doing some serious thinking the past couple of days. Every day it seems like there is something new to look forward to with our home base being Indiana. Here are just a few of them...10 to be precise.

1. I can get a Rickers frozen coke for 79 cents any day I want, maybe every day (except Sunday of course)
2. Playing games with my in-laws and eating their delicious food. Did someone say cheese dip?
3. We can take Noah for walks at Shady side park. Ahhh...
4. So many babysitters to choose from.
5. My mom and mother in law and aunts fighting over noah in the services at church so I can actually listen to a sermon. :-)
6. Watching movies and eating pizza with my mom.
7. Being able to have lots of family at the hospital when the new baby is born and no one has to travel more than 15 miles.
8. Being able to help in junior church...something that I really miss doing.
9. The temperature change is welcome as far as we're concerned and we're looking forward to snow in the winter! ~I'm dreaming of a white Christmas~ snow, baby, snow
10. Grandparents get to be ACTIVELY involved in taking care of Noah :-) I'm looking forward to having a bit of help, can you tell?

Well that's just to say a few. We're looking forward to seeing what God has for us up there and we're looking forward to it. I guess that's putting it mildly. We're running towards it enthusiastically with our arms open to hug it as soon as it gets here. I miss my mommy.

Pics from the week

2009-06-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Not much to report this week. We've been keeping ourselves busy. Had a great dinner on Sunday with Bethany Griggs, Brian Wardlaw, and Rebecca Fetzer. We've been working really hard to get our move worked out. i'm absolutely dying to get moved back to Indiana. Each day that passes I want to be there more. Adam is just waiting on a job and we'll be on our way. Noah is all over the place these days. He follows me to the bathroom, the kitchen, well, anywhere. He doesn't like to be in any room alone. Don't get the wrong idea. I wouldn't leave him in a room alone if he wasn't safe. If I wasn't confident he'd be on my heels, he'd be in a play pen or bouncy chair. Lots of prayer requests though. First of all, Noah has been teething or something. He hasn't been sleeping all that well, which means no one in the house gets to sleep all that well. He's doing better now than he was at the beginning of the week, so I hope it's getting better. Two, this move is driving me crazy. I feel so anxious and uncertain. I've been praying a lot about it, but it's like going through the mountains: high and encouraged one day and down in the dumps the next. Being pregnant definitely doesn't help since I don't have much energy and haven't been feeling very well. Third, pray for my cousins Amy, Mandy and Meaghan Closser. They recently lost their mother and are going through many hard changes. It's very difficult for them.

Thanks for your prayers. I hope you enjoy the pictures! There's a cutie in 'em! :-)

Arizona Family Reunion

2009-06-11T12:40:00.000-07:00

We had a fabulous trip to AZ. The only two problems with it was the time change and the pure and simple fact that it was far too short. We had tons of delays at the airports on our way, I wasn't even sure we'd get there. God helped us and we made it... We flew into Phoenix and drove straight to Tuscon. We spend friday and saturday night in a hotel for the reunion, and then drove to Phoenix and stayed one night there by the airport. It was so much fun to spend time together swimming and watching movies. Noah had a great time with grandpa in particular. He even said a new word... "papaw". It's been fun to try to unspoil him since we've been home.
Some of these pictures are out of order, but I don't want to take the time to organize them. Noah is wanting some attention. Enjoy!

Noah and grandma James after swim time
Noah and Mommy after swim time

Here is Noah enjoying our pretty view from our hotel room.

Daddy went outside to get some pictures of Noah from the outside. Noah loved being at the window.

Nathan and Cecelia waiting for the pictures to be finished.

Dad and Noah, Noah was exhausted from the long day and our travel night the day before, with the three hour time difference, it threw of his schedule a bit. We didn't get into our hotel until 4:30 AM Florida time, but it was only 1:30 AZ time.

My dad doing one of the things he does best...entertaining the kids! :-) It's so fun to watch...

Dad, Stephen, Abigail, and Kaitlyn

My dad and his bro's and sis's choosing pictures at JCPenney

Grandma Thompson

Noah and Abigail. Abigail was getting kinda tired of all the pictures...

My bro Nathan and my potential sister-in-law to be, the beautiful Cecelia.

My Uncle Ed and Aunt Carol

Aunt Judy and Uncle Darren, Eric and his wife, Greg and his wife and daughter Kaitlyn.

My fam

Aunt Peggy and 3 of her 8 kids. Adrianna, Donna, and Belinda. Adrianna's son Aiden, and Belinda's daughter Arianna.

Several of us cousins and our kids, but there were lots of us that couldn't be there. Too bad.

My Aunt Margie and Uncle Mark with their kids and grandkids: Dalton, Dana, Kevin, Maria, Terri, and Joey (Josephine)

Grandma and Grandpa James played with Noah one morning in their master suite bedroom. It was so nice to have their help with him for a couple days! I think he enjoyed it too!

Here is Noah playing in all the clean clothes mom was getting ready to pack for our trip to AZ!

~Florida Fun in the Sun~

2009-06-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

We took a fun trip to the beach today. It was so nice to spend time together as a family. Noah is scared to death of the ocean. He's ok so long as he's on daddy's shoulders far, far away from the water! :-) It was fun to watch him as he tried to decide what he thought of the crashing waves. We had a picnic of sub sandwiches and root beer. Noah ate banana orange delight gerber baby food and a graduates baby cookie...which he devoured quickly and made quite a mess with. We had a good time.

Noah's cubbies and tunnels

2009-06-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

On this one particular day, Noah hid in several little places. It was pretty cute, so I'll start from the beginning...
This is how Adam found him when he went to get him out of bed in the morning. If it had been me, I would have ran and pulled the blanket off his head and checked to make sure he was breathing. Not Adam, though. He went and got the camera and laughed as he took pictures. He guesses that Noah slept in this day because he still thought it was night time because the blanket was over his head and he couldn't see the sun. Hahaha.

And then Noah went and crawled onto the saucer part of the exersaucer. He played in there for a little while. It was pretty funny. Eventually he whined because he couldn't get out and he needed me to come help him.

And here we have Noah playing in a little tunnel/cave toy he has. We bought this transitional toy for him when he was like 2-3 months old. It starts out as a mat on the floor that has arches with toys dangling from it to lay the baby underneath. Then it can turn into a belly mat that has the toys slanted upwards from the floor to help the baby get some tummy time. Eventually, it can be made into this little cave/tunnel for mobile babies to crawl through and play in. I hope he enjoys it lots in the next few months!

Pictures from my Phone

2009-06-02T11:46:00.000-07:00

Here is Noah and daddy on Memorial Day. We were on our way to go take daddy to work. Adam wanted to take their picture in the shade, but I couldn't get Noah to quit playing with the leaves and smile at me... :-)

Here is Noah munching on a piece of celery at a restaurant we went to one day while we were out shopping. It kept him happy for quite a while! He really liked it! ...surprising...

Here is Noah's first time drinking out of a straw. He actually did pretty good if you consider that his clothes were only semi-covered with water... :-)

Adam and I were both tired, so we decided to just let Noah get us where we needed to go. He'll have his license by the time he's 18 months. We're so proud.

Here is Noah's wild hair. I always dry his hair while he's in the bath after I wash it so it isn't too cold for him while he's playing. This day, the way it looked when I took the towel off kind of caught me off guard, so I decided to take a picture while I was giggling.

Here is Noah trying out our new mattress! Looks like he's enjoying it huh!

Adam and I wanted him to try on this little mini baseball glove at Walmart. IT WAS SO CUTE!!! I wanted to buy it for him! Well, maybe when he turns two or so. At this point we can't even get it on his hand without it heading straight for his mouth.

The Play Pen

2009-06-01T12:39:00.001-07:00

Noah's first adventure in a play pen! He has been all over the place lately. I can hardly keep up with him sometimes. He wants to touch everything and go everywhere. One day I set up the play pen we got at a garage sale. I was busy and i couldn't keep running all around trying to keep him from tearing up the house. I threw some toys in it and then added Noah to the mix. He loved it! At least at first he did... He would turn around and scratch each wall. It was really kinda cute! The walls kind of each have a different texture. two walls are net and two are just plastic liningish stuff. lol. He liked playing with his toys in there for a while... and then he realized he couldn't get out. Oh well, it will still come in handy! :-) Enjoy the pictures!

Our week: mainly Noah

2009-05-30T19:45:00.000-07:00

Here I'm trying again to get a picture of his teeth. I have several more about like this, all failures. one of these days though...

Noah crawling over his toys and getting into stuff.

Here is Noah getting into his "crawling stance". lol. Daddy was trying to get a picture of him looking under the couch, but he wouldn't cooperate after daddy got the camera out. It always works that way though.

Here are some pictures of Noah standing by our bed one morning. We just got a new mattress and we don't have a frame for it yet (or a boxspring), so it is just on the floor for right now. No problem for me! I'm just glad to have a new mattress! Anyway, here he was just taken out of his jams and he and daddy were playing around and Noah climbed off the bed so he could look out the window. Daddy snapped a few pics! So cute!

Toy time!

I love this picture of him checking out his basketball hoop! So much like his father: "how does this thing work?" (it makes music when you pull the hoop and stuff)

Grace

2009-05-25T13:09:00.000-07:00

Noah is asleep in his bed. I am in the living room. The rain drops are just beginning to fall. I hear the sound of distant thunder. I love the smell of storms and the way the breeze blows when it's getting ready to rain. All is quiet except nature, but nature's sounds are welcome.
I was just sitting here thinking about my devotions last night. I didn't prepare my heart to do devotions like I should have. I was upset about something, so I was just doing devotions so I could get them done and go to bed. God decided to speak to me in spite of my aggrivation and unprepared heart. I thought I would share what He spoke to me about. Just recently, a family known by many people down here, the Biggers, were in an accident. I personally didn't know them, but I heard a lot about them throughout the situation. Apparently, in the accident, the mother/wife and only two children were killed, leaving the father/husband alone. A month later the father died too. Lets just say it was of a broken heart.
That situation hit me so hard. I bawled out of hurt for this poor man when I heard about his family. I couldn't imagine what I would do if something happened to Adam and Noah. If I was left alone, I don't know how I would get out of bed in the morning. I can't imagine being able to carry on at all. Just the thought of it seems hopeless and dark. I figured that I just had to go through each day praying that that sort of thing would never happen to me, but the truth is, it could.
Last night, though, I read a devotional written by a woman who had similar thoughts to mine. How could I possibly live through such a tragic situation?? Then she gave the answer and it went straight to my heart and comforted my fear. This is what she said that God revealed to her: the only reason we can't imagine getting through such difficult times is because we don't yet have the strength that we would need to get through it. God gives us grace and strength just when we need it. He doesn't give us all the grace and strength we need right now to get through the rest of our lives, He gives it to us one day at a time. Today, I only have the strength I need to get through today. Tomorrow, God will give me what I need to get through tomorrow.
This gave me so much peace. I know that if my husband and son died tomorrow, God would give me grace and strength tomorrow to get through it. Please understand that I still pray that God will protect my family, but on the other hand, i can let go of the fear that I can't get through it. Bottom line is I can't get through it, but God can get me through it if or when the time comes. However big or small the situation, God's grace comes in just the right size.

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

Me n My Boy: Cuddle Time

2009-05-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

and it was a rainy day just after nap time. can you tell by his face?

I Can't Believe he CAN!!

2009-05-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Adam and I were watching an episode of MacGyver on the internet one relaxing afternoon, when I turned around to check on Noah. He was playing on the floor playing with his toys when we sat him there, but when I turned around...he was standing up at the footstool! How did he do it? I have never seen him pull himself up like that before. I'm SOOO glad I didn't miss it. He made Adam and I laugh. He never ceases to amaze us. I am so proud to be his mother. He's such a good and happy baby (for the most part). I'm sure he'll be a great big brother. I've been taking him around to play with other babies a bit more often. I've also been pointing out tiny babies to him. I don't know if there's really anything I can do to prepare him for what is to come. I have been reading Keven Leman's 'the Birth Order Book'. I've been enlightened as I've read tips on parenting the firstborn when the second born comes along. I'm so glad I've read about it to sort of prepare myself to be sure Noah doesn't get treated unfairly or unintentionally 'forgotten' or taken for granted. I'm sure you know what I mean by forgotten... Not that we wouldn't remember that he's there, just that we still spend special time alone with him and make sure he knows we love him more than ever.

Looking at daddy while standing at the footstool:
Trying to play with his bouncy chair toys while standing at the footstool:
there ya go, grandma and grandpa Jones. He goes to all lengths to get to this chair. You made a wise Christmas present decision if your goal was to get him something he LOVED!!! :-)

Here's a video of him when he was standing at the footstool. little booger. I love him!

Here is a video of Noah laughing histerically at me 'sneezing'. I don't know if I just sneezed a lot when I was pregnant with him, or what, but he's obsessed with sneezes. He even laughs when he sneezes himself. He just thinks it's hilarious. I love to hear him laugh, so if he thinks it's funny, that's fine by me! Enjoy!

Our "crawler"

2009-05-21T16:34:00.000-07:00

Bees and Other Great Times

2009-05-21T13:40:00.000-07:00

I told my mother in law I'd keep pictures coming. Here they are!
Noah and I went to mommy/baby music class at the library today! We had such a great time! I hope I get to go next week and i'll try to take some pics. there were probably 8-10 babies there. We sang and danced and did baby exercise and massage. The teacher read the babies a bath fun book. They loved it. Noah enjoyed watching all the other babies. I hope it encourages him to crawl like they did. His crawling doesn't really completely count as crawling since he mostly just scoots around on his belly.
We got our new mattress via UPS today. Adam gets off early, so hopefully it'll be set up tonight and we will get to sleep on it! we'll see. I'm so excited though. RIght now, our mattress is so bad that we can feel all the springs poking us. I actually had a spring get my funny bone the other day. OUCH PAIN!! lol. It was then I knew we NEEDED a new mattress. No mattress on earth should be able to hurt your funny bone.

Here is Noah baby getting into mommy's clean laundry. Love this kid. He's wonderful.

We had an incident with bees this week. yesterday to be exact. One evening, I was taking care of Noah and there was a bee in one of the kitchen windows. Ok, no sweat. I got my shoe and smashed it. All is well. I was then doing the dishes and I heard buzzing. Must've been my imagination. Then I was feeding Noah rice cereal and I saw a bee in the window... so I took my shoe and killed it. Now I hoped there's not a problem. After Noah was in bed I heard the buzzing again. Then I saw a bee in the light (dying). I let it die. Then i knew we had a problem. I mentioned it to Adam when he got home from work. Ok, he said. Good to know. The next morning my wonderful husband got Noah out of bed and let me sleep in. A while later he came in and said he killed 5 bees and there were more in the house. We need to do something. He called Gordon Butcher who works for an extermination/pest prevention company. He came to check it out. He didn't know exactly how to handle the problem, so he called his boss. I wanted Noah out of the house. i was afraid he'd get stung cuz there were so many bees. We took off. Went to west Palm Beach for a bit. When we got back, they had done some exterminating. God Bless 'em. We had to kill a couple in the house, but Here is what was left:

Here is proof that I really am trying to get a picture of Noah's teeth! Too bad that thus far, I have failed. I will keep trying though! there's a spot for the picture in his baby book that I CANNOT LEAVE EMPTY!! I will eventually win.

He knows he's winning the battle

Here is Noah. He crawled under the chair I was sitting in and I decided to save the moment by snapping a picture. He is so funny and sweet! I love him! Yes, that is my skirt and leg. So glad you noticed.

I was taking a picture of Noah to put in his baby book for his '9 month' page.

Babies and Bandaids

2009-05-14T13:45:00.000-07:00

Oh if you only knew the unexpected things that happen. Poor little Noah had a doctors appointment a week ago. We originally went to the doctor to make sure he didn't have an ear infection. He had been pulling his ear and fussing excessively. When the doctor, much to our relief, revealed to us that Noah's ears were perfect and infection free, we asked if we could go ahead with his 9 month well baby visit. In a well baby visit, they check his weight, his height, his hips, they ask questions about his development, and he gets shots. I hate being there when he gets shots. Adam usually stays with him while he gets his shots and I wait outside the door. When I hear my poor baby start screaming, I rush in and hold him and hug him and kiss him. This time however, he didn't cry but for a second, and he wanted his daddy. boohoo. j/k. When we were leaving, Adam noticed that the nurse had missed the place she had pricked him and put the bandaid at the wrong place. Adam took off one of the three bandaids and put it over the prick. Noah, our little trooper, just sat in daddy's arms and we took him out to the car. After buckling him in his carseat, we were on our way to eat lunch with one of his ex-coworkers that he keeps in contact with (Dave). While we were sitting in the parking lot waiting to see Dave's vehicle pull in, Adam happened to glance back at Noah in the carseat. He saw two bandaids hanging off Noah's chin sopping wet. Noah was trying to get them back into his mouth, but Adam grabbed them just in the nick of time. Adam felt all over Noah's leg feeling for the third bandaid, but since Noah's carseat still faces backwards, it was hard to find it. Adam pulled him out of his seat and up into the front with us.
We examined his clothes, his limbs, everything we could think of but the bandaid was nowhere to be found. We looked at each other knowing where it must be. Adam squeezed Noah's cheeks together to try to open his mouth and there it was. After we hastily retrieved the bandaid from Noah's mouth, we laughed. Our son had just peeled three bandaids off his leg and attempted to eat them. Who'd of thought.

Life=Busy

2009-05-11T12:06:00.000-07:00

Oh my how it's been so long AGAIN since I've posted! So much to tell, oh yes. We had an internet dilemma for about a week now. Our internet was mistakenly turned off on Tuesday. It took us a week to get it back up. Got it back just in the nick of time for Mothers Day! yay! I have been so busy. Our house is a mess and it drives me absolutely up the wall crazy. When I got back from Indiana, Adam had begun packing and had done some painting around the house, so it hasn't really been like I like it to be since then. It drives me nuts looking at bare walls since all of our decor was removed in order for him to paint. I want to put it back up, but he repaired all the nail and screw holes, so I'm not allowed. :-(
I don't even have much time now to finish posting, but i'll try to get on again today and keep writing. Here are some pictures from the past week or so. Most of them are Adam and Noah. It warms my heart to see them play together. I can't help but smile at their adorableness! :-)
Enjoy!

Our Indiana Trip

2009-04-29T14:12:00.000-07:00

My sincere apologies to my faithful blog followers. I did not intend on letting my blog go for nearly a month without being touched. I took all the equipment I needed to blog in Indiana, but the opportunity to do it never presented itself. All in all I had a pretty good time 'vacationing' for spring break in Indiana. Didn't turn out to be much of a vacation, but it was nice to be with family. As I previously wrote on my blog, my Aunt Jenny died on April 2. I went home for the funeral and to be with my cousins in particular. I spend nearly every day with Meaghan and we had a really great time. Noah loved being with her. He gave her kisses almost everytime she picked him up! It made me jealous... :-) I spend one day with my cousin Amy. We had a great time cleaning out her room and going through things. I really do mean we had a great time.

I went to IHC for a day with my mom and aunt. It's a bummer that halfway through the day I got really sick and ended up resting in a hotel room during the last two services and didn't get to do near the amount of socializing that I intended to do. I think Noah had a good time being pushed around in his shoulder and having person after person ahhh and oooohhhh over him. He soaks up attention like a desert soaks up water. I really wanted to go to the women of worth service too, but it was so full there wasn't anywhere that would fit a baby, me, and my mom all together. Oh, well.

My brother and I had a great time playing Mario Party after Noah went to bed a couple of nights. We used to do that when we were younger, and by younger I mean when I was still in high school...maybe beginning college. It was super fun. One day my cousin Jon came over to play with us. It was great. Meg played one day too. Don't tell her I said this, but she needs to practice....heeheehee. Love you meg!

I ate some delicious home cooked food while I was home. My mom made a wonderful Easter dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, baked sweet potatoes, green beans, baked beans, and rolls. It was amazing. I wished I could keep eating it all day. The next Sunday I ate over at my in-laws. It was delicious too! We had pork roast, green beans, potatoes, and homemade rolls. Oh and did I mention the salad? That was great too. Noah had a good time eating too.

Noah did pretty good on the flights. He was no trouble at all in take off, but landing was hard on both of us. I guess it may have been hurting his ears, but I'm not sure if that's why he was so upset, or just the simple fact that he'd been stuck in one little spot for so long and he wanted out. He's so busy, so in some ways, I almost lean toward the latter.

I regret that I didn't take many pictures. There was so much going on. I am super sad that I don't have a picture of Noah on his first Easter. I don't know what was going through my head! My aunt will be on here looking for a picture of Noah and his first time in Ohio (at IHC), but I can't find one of that either. (sorry aunt B!) All I know is that I'm looking forward to moving back up to Indiana. There will be some obstacles to overcome, but being near family will be worth it. They are what matters most. The recent family loss only proved it.

Here are a few of the pictures I did take followed by some videos. Take time to watch the videos...they're pretty cute. Be aware that they were taken from my cell phone so they may be a bit blurry. Thanks!

Playing with Grandma Jones:

Grandpa James in Noah. We were eating dinner at Garfields.

Noah cuddling with meggie. We love you meg!

Grandma James giving Noah his first bath in the big boy bath tub. Boy did he love it!

We cousins having a ball at my parents house watching movies and hanging out. Lots of fun and laughs...just in case you couldn't tell.
This is Markie and Kim

Kelly, Justin and Aaron

This video is hilarious. You have to get to the very end to see the funniest funny part. It's really cute.

Noah picking up his puff with his grabbing fingers for the very first time in his life! Well...he had done it a couple times before this but it was this exact time sitting on the floor at Grandma and Grandpa Jones' that he learned how to!

Bye Bye! Thanks for reading our blog!

Sunday Afternoon Leisure...

2009-04-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Here is my honey engulfed in a book. It is a Christian suspence/action novel by Andrew Snaden called 'Traitors'. I only finished it yesterday after a good week of reading it. He read the entire thing today. I didn't mind letting him have a good time while I slaved away with food and baby and laundry. I'm getting ready to leave for Indiana tomorrow for my aunts funeral, so where usually I would avoid laundry on a Sunday, I needed to do some to be ready to leave tomorrow. It's gonna be an interesting day.
Here is Noah cuddlin' with daddy while mommy was making him a bottle. He looks so sweet there doesn't he? aww.... I love that kid.

Here is Noah playing in his exersaucer. He really enjoys that thing. Thank you grandma and grandpa Jones!

the other day at Target we got him some little mesh fruit/veggie holders. They are made so that you can give your child food inside of it and snap it closed so they can chew it and eat it, but the pieces have to be small enough that they can't choke on them to fit through the holes. I haven't given him food in it yet, but I did try ice today. Gale Wheatcraft gave me that idea because Katie used to use one. It helps to relieve his teething symptoms and he enjoys sucking on the water too!

Tot toys and talking

2009-04-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Noah is focussing really hard on something in his exersaucer. What is it? Probably the curtains...we've been getting onto him a lot these days about pulling on the curtains...

What a mess!! I can't even keep the place clean! From the moment Noah wakes up in the morning until he goes to bed at night it's toys, toys everywhere!! They are rising quickly to being my arch enemy...grrr...j/k
Here is Noah on the floor...Play play playing to his heart's content...

A...A is for what mommy?

Our little burger chef...yes, I know...a beautiful baby...

Daddy is definitely better at taking pictures with the phone than mommy is, look at the difference!!

It isn't really clear, but I think you can hear him say 'Hi' in this video. We've been teaching him to say hi and wave, he does it sometimes, but rarely, if ever, for the camera...well, one of these days we'll catch a good one!

Losing Someone...Something noone wants to do...

2009-04-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 2nd, 2009. A hard day for everyone in my family and all of our family friends. Jenny Closser, a wonderful woman, went to be with the Lord. It was completely unexpected. I think that's the worst way. She was a compassionate and loving woman. She loved everyone and cared about people. She was faithful to church. Rarely missed a service. She taught Sunday school. She loved for kids to sit with her in church. She loved her 3 daughters, Amy, Amanda, and Meaghan with all of her heart. She lovingly cared for her adopted brother, Travis, as if he was her own son. She was truly a wonderful woman and I will miss her with all of my heart.

We will all miss her. She was loved by everyone that knew her. I am so thankful that we, the family, can know that she is in Heaven with the Lord and we will see her again. I pray God's comfort to her daughters. If I am hurting so badly and I am only her neice, I can't even imagine what her daughters, my wonderful and loved cousins, must be feeling.

Please pray for the family. I don't know what will happen. There is a hard road ahead of them and us as a family, but God does know what will happen. He already has it all planned out.

Again, please, if you read this, say a prayer.

We love you Aunt Jenny

He was SUPPOSED to be sleeping...

2009-04-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, Noah was just put down for a nap about 15 minutes before this. He just played and played for quite a while. I think I've told you before that he does this, but I just had to prove it to ya. It's so cute. I know i'm gonna enjoy watching this video for years to come. I'm sorry it's so blurry, but it's a phone video. Our camera memory card is full, so I just made due! Thanks for watching!

God's Control

2009-03-30T13:29:00.000-07:00

i'm so amazed at how God seems to be working out the move to Indiana. Although, there is still a small chance that the whole thing could fall through, I have confidence that all things are working together because God is helping us. Adam has been working for several days to find a transfer to a Starbucks close to Anderson. Today, he called a starbucks in Fishers. The store manager said she had a shift supervisor leaving the store in May on maternity leave. Isn't it amazing that it would happen the exact time that we would be moving up there? Wow, even 7 months ago God was preparing a place for Adam to transfer. lol. God has given both Adam and me peace and excitement about the move and the new baby. I am having so much fun looking at baby names again. I think that is so much fun. By the way...if anybody wants to make a suggestion, feel free. NO promises. lol.
Noah has been talking in his bed for probably half an hour now. I put him in for a nap and he just plays and plays. That's fine with me as long as he goes to sleep when he gets done playing. He is so sweet. He gives flirty little looks to everybody. Especially the girls at Adam's work. They all love him. I'm glad. I'll miss everbody so much, but I am filled with anticipation of what God has for us in the future. Please keep us in your prayers.

Noah and Mommy Dance

2009-03-29T17:56:00.000-07:00

We were dancing to Click the Camera from "Go, Diego, Go"

That is one of Noah's favorite songs...I'm not sure why...

2009-03-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

Was our day a boring day you ask? Well, let me just say this...Adam took a picture of our dinner. Does that sound eventful to you? I better not say that because some people think it's fun to take pictures of food. lol. Plus, it was a really delicious dinner: grilled chicken, garden steamers with cheddar sauce, leftover macaroni and cheese, and a pilsbury italian loaf baked to perfection.
We were invited to the Eggmans for dinner today. It was so delicious! I had carrot soufle (sp) for the first time. There were incredible mashed potatoes, roast beef, macaroni, corn, green beans, salad, jello salad, cake, rolls, I'm not sure if that's it or not! It was delicious. Aunt Teresa (sp) surprised her mom and dad by coming to visit. Angie, Tori, and Ashton were already expected to come and visit, but Aunt Teresa was a surprise. (I know, I already said that). Noah really enjoyed playing with Aunt Teresa. Jared and Becka (Fetzer) came for dinner too. We had a really great time!

Happy Easter To ALL!!!!!!

2009-03-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

Love the Jones Family

This 'n' That

2009-03-28T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here is the sweet boy in his 'shop 'n' play' at walmart. This thing is literally a miracle. Keeps the germs off 'im and keeps 'im entertained in the process. Love it. He loves it too. That's why I love it. LOL.
Chilaxin' on daddy's shoulders in Walmart. Yes, that does make mommy nervous.

Look at me and my bad self...uh, huh, uh, huh, uh, huh :-) Noah in mommy's sunglasses at walmart.

This is a picture of Noah in a high chair at the annual volunteer banquet at church. It is a banquet where the paid pastoral staff and their families serve a sit down meal to all of the people who volunteer to work for the church and ask nothing in return. It was such a delicious meal and so nicely decorated! I think there were over 250 volunteers that attended, but I'm not positive about that number... :-S

We three enjoy going to the mall to walk. Here we went into a shoe store and found a shoe as big as Noah. Cool huh.

Here is Noah in a cute suit outfit that his Uncle Seth and Aunt Beth got him for Christmas. It's taken him a couple months to grow into it, but I thought he was SO CUTE in it!! These are before church on a Sunday morning. Daddy had to run sound, so I had to get Noah and I ready by myself, then daddy came to pick us up and take us to church.

Here he is chewing on Adam's tie while I'm getting ready for church. Leave it to him...he'll always find something to do. Beware!

InDiAnA!

2009-03-26T13:14:00.000-07:00

So, it looks like we're moving to Indiana! I've been wanting to for a long time. There are so many things pointing in the direction. God has been opening all the doors and I'm praying the last few kinks work out. Adam still has to finalize a transfer to a Starbucks in that area. There are several reasons we are moving (or wanting to move)...
1. Apparently (announcement alert) we will be having another baby in November. Surprise surprise. not just to you, but to us too! I'm kind of scared, but I know God has everything under control and I completely trust Him to do what is best for us and provide for us along the way.
2. I really want to be near our family.
3. The cost of living will be a fraction of what it is for us now.
4. Adam can now finish his degree online from Hobe Sound
5. I'm done with all the schooling I can get from Hobe Sound.
6. Did I already say I want to be by my mom? lol

Anyway, I'm just gonna be honest. I'm so tired of people saying that we can't make it and "what are we thinking having another baby so soon!" and not believing in us. God is our leader and provider. God is bring the new baby to us, so who are we to question HIM? I don't want to be rude, I just want to say SOMEBODY BELIEVE IN US! Some people feel like they have some special connection to God and God only speaks to them and He couldn't possibly speak to us. God has provided for us this far, and if His promises are true, He never intends to stop. I better stop fuming about that or I'm gonna dig myself into a hole. For you of you who are wondering, I am SO excited to be having another baby and moving to Indiana. Yes, I am going to miss Hobe Sound and my friends. Most of my original friends in my class are leaving anyway because they are graduating too, but there are so many other people I will miss. I love everyone.

Applesauce and....my hair

2009-03-24T20:09:00.000-07:00

So, have any of you mothers ever been covered in applesauce? Yeah, well I haven't...at least not until today. There I was being the best mother I knew how to be feeding my son applesauce after half a jar of mixed vegetables (he quit eating it after that much...he's not big on veggies...i hear that's pretty common). I smiled big with enthusiasm and scooped a big 'ol spoon full of applesauce into his mouth when *ACHHHHOOOO!* suddenly it was no longer in his mouth. Did he swallow it? no. Where was it then? Um...in my hair, in HIS hair, on my skirt, on my shirt, on my face, on HIS face, on his clothes, on the desk table beside us....pretty much everywhere but in his mouth. At first I was in a sort of state of shock. We just kinda sat there for a couple of seconds staring at each other. You all who see Noah a lot know that wide eyed serious look he gets on his face sometimes. Well, there we were covered in applesauce together. It was almost a bonding moment! I finally decided that the appropriate action to take was to ..... laugh ..... what else could I do? What a sight. I regret that I didn't get pictures, but it's times like these where a mom kinda panics and can't think until things are cleaned up. Then after it's all clean a mom looks back and says "why didn't i grab the camera?!?!?!"

PS. Jared, i'm not giving you any noodles.

Noah Singing in the Car

2009-03-23T12:58:00.000-07:00

Cheesecake Factory and Babies

2009-03-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

Here is Noah and I outside of the Cheesecake Factory on Saturday night. It was Adam's 23rd birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOVE!! We actually were going out with the 'sound crew' from the church. They take all the volunteers and their families out once a year as a thank you. It would have been much more fun for me if it wasn't about time for Noah to go to bed. He was pretty much crying the whole time because he was tired and it was pretty dark in there (the lighting is really dim). It's ok though, because I think Adam had a pretty good time. I enjoyed chatting with some of my friends too. it's always nice to catch up with people you don't really get to see very often. Don't be fooled, he's actually looking fairly happy in this picture. It was an act. lol

Yay! Here is Seattle Poling! We had Sam and Lynn over for Sunday dinner. Yes, we mothers know what life is like just after having a baby. To make life a little easier for them, we wanted to make them supper. We enjoyed seeing the baby and chatting with them. Noah slept for most the time they were here, been when he was awake, he wanted to touch her. Of course he would! I kept having to say "no,no bud, no, no!"
Congrats Lynn and Sam! She's beautiful!

Here is daddy kissing baby! so Sweet!
Here we are right before they were leaving to go home. Yes, Noah has gotten a little bigger since that time in our lives hasn't he? You can see I'm holding his arm there so he doesn't touch the baby. Told ya!

Altogether we had a good week! Jonathan has had a good time here I think. We've had fun together. He's been at the beach and we've watched a couple of movies and had a good time chatting. I'm glad he got to come and I hope he feels refreshed from his vacation. Love ya Jon!

Gas Blunder...It's Even worse than You're Thinking

2009-03-21T14:33:00.001-07:00

So I'm sitting in the car in a not so good mood while my husband pumps gas at a gas station. There was a big red truck at the next pump beside us. All the sudden, the truck drives away and we hear a giant "POP BANG!" We see her begin to pull away...with the gas pump STILL ATTACHED TO THE TRUCK!! lol. She jumps out of the truck saying "I can't believe I just did that! At least this station has the rip off kind of pump!" HAHAHAHAHA!!!!! What a way to put me in at least a little bit better of a mood.

Bath Fun

2009-03-21T11:47:00.000-07:00

Baby Doesn't want Bath to be Over!

2009-03-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Noah absolutely LOVES his bath. I think it's his favorite time of day. Usually I wash his hair first, then I wash his body, then I let him play for a little while. He plays with his rubber ducky, his fish teether thing connected to the bath, and a wash cloth. I try to wet the rag with clean water, but as soon as I hand it to him, he dips it into the soapy water before he puts it in his mouth. then I take it away and rinse it and give it back to him. Then he dips it in the soapy water and puts it in his mouth, etc... It's pretty funny. He chases the soap bubbles around with his little finger and tries to catch them. He never can, but it's so cute.

In this picture, He is trying to use his feet to push the towel away. lol. He is so funny. He doesn't cry when I take him out of the bath, but if i'd let him, he'd play all day. I wish everybody could see how cute he is when he plays in the bath. I love to watch him play.

Surprise visit from Great Grandpa and Grandma!

2009-03-19T11:39:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday morning around 10-11 AM. Adam and I are making the final preparations to go up to the hospital and see Sam and Lynn and their new little Seattle Renee. (6 lbs 11 oz in case you were wondering) (Happy belated birthday Seattle !!) I went up to see them in their hospital room, but Adam had to stay down in the lobby with Noah since children aren't allowed in that part of the hospital. After a short visit, I returned to Adam and Noah to find out that my grandparents are in the driveway AT MY HOME! Unfortunately, we had a 30-35 minute drive back home, but after the drive, we spent a great afternoon with them. We went to lunch at a diner. (which I had a patty melt and onion rings; not healthy, but delicious). We talking and fellowshipped together and Grandpa took a nice, vacation style nap. We were so glad we got to see them.

Thanks for coming guys! It truly was a blessing! Love you!

SuperMom! ! The Rearranger...

2009-03-17T21:31:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am supermom. She can singlehandedly clean, cook and care for the baby. Now, she can also rearrange. Alright, now the fun is over. I rearranged Noah's room a couple days ago. I don't think I've ever posted pictures of his room, so I thought now would be a good time. He has some other wall decor, but I didn't feel like waiting for another picture to upload. Sorry for your luck. This is a nightlight given to him by a friend at church and some painted letters my cousin did for us at a baby shower. Right now on the bottom shelf of his bookshelf there are some of our books. I'm gonna have to trade those with toys when he starts crawling, but I still don't know what I'm gonna do with them. *sigh*. Our home may not be large, but at least we have one. Thank you Lord for your blessings on me.

This is his "chest of drawers AKA dresser" and his diaper organizer. It's supposed to go on the end of a changing table, but seeing as we don't have one, we made do with hanging it on a closet hanger thingy that we now hang blankets on. His organizer serves as a diaper/pacifier/teether/lotion/gripe water/washcloth holder. We love that thing.

His crib used to face ther other direction with the head of it under that plaque (sp) on the wall. I foresee that when he can pull himself up, he'll be pulling on the curtains. Until then, we'll take advantage of this little change in arrangement. Keep things new and fresh!

For all who might care, my husband has started his own blog. adamtriestoanswer.blogspot.com

His mission is to have people write Biblical questions they might have so that he can research them and try to answer them. I'm hoping that it helps him develop some more pastoral skills. If you come across any questions or things you think might challenge him to think deeper and learn more about God and the Bible, I encourage you to write a question (as a comment to one of his postings). Thank you so much! God bless!

Visitors from the Great Beyond

2009-03-17T15:32:00.000-07:00

If you're wondering what I mean by the great beyond, I mean Indiana. It's where everybody wishes they could be, but only a few lucky ones actually get to be there. We were fortunate enough to have some visitors from that wonderful state. The occasion? Hobe Sound Bible College's Annual Welcome Week. What is Welcome Week you ask? (unless you already know) It's when high school juniors and seniors from all over the nation come down to see the college in order to aid them in their decision of which college they would like to attend after their graduation.

This is a picture of Tim Cole holding Noah. He is from our home church in Anderson.

This is my cousin Jonathan Leach holding Noah. He was taking a much needed vacation. I hope he has a great time. (although I hope Tim has a great time too.

What a nice looking bunch of boys!

Today they took a walk to the beach to just enjoy the Florida sunshine!

If the clock isn't the king, then why am I always late?

2009-03-16T13:41:00.001-07:00

Fact of life, there are some people in the world incapable of being on time. Yes, I am referring to myself. You might recall my writing about being late for church during the time change. Well, if you don't rememer, I got up 10 minutes late and ended of 5 minutes late for church. This week, I got up 15 minutes early! Yay!! Wait, I was still 5 minutes late. How did that happen?? I DON'T KNOW!! I guess it's my destiny. NO, I WILL BEAT THIS!! I guess I'll let you know next week if I'm late again or not.

Noah is pretty unhappy today. I wish I knew why. I'm looking forward to bedtime tonight to say the least. I did homework all morning and into the afternoon. Adam took care of him today. Probably not a good thing since Noah's having a bad day. Plus I wanna go to Arby's. Well, maybe another day. That's all I can manage for today since I'm fighting Noah for the keyboard.

Great day to All!!

Short and Sweet

2009-03-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

I don't have long to post tonight. I just finished writing a quick essay and I have to go finish folding the laundry before Adam gets home from work, but I just wanted to post a quick update on our lives.

So, I finished giving Noah his bath tonight. I put on his diaper cream and his diaper and dried his hair with his towel. We talked and played throughout the whole process. It was at that point I realized that I forgot to grab his jammies out of the laundry basket in the hallway. (just so that there is no misunderstanding, they were clean clothes that I had gotten out of the dryer not long before). Upon my return, I discovered that he must've tried to follow me or something, because this is how he was:

He was "calling" me by grunting and groaning in my direction. He doesn't like it when I leave the room he's in. I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before those arms and legs start working together and he really does follow me. I'm gonna have to make sure I lift the bar to his crib even if I am just taking one step out of his bedroom to grab his jams. Oh brother, where does the time go?So, after I got him into his jams, I sat him down on the floor to a Veggie Tales video (that I hadn't turned off yet from before the bath) and went to make his bottle. He loves watching cartoons. I don't like to let him do it all the time, but it makes for a pretty good distraction to a tired, hungry baby. :-)

Well, I hope you all enjoyed and I'll write again as soon as I can. I find myself short on time these days now that my online class has started. (It started March 10). Until next time!

'How Not To' Picture that Turned Out Good!

2009-03-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

I was doing some homework for my audiovisuals class by taking pictures the wrong way and then the right way. Unfortunately for the teacher, my "how-not-to" picture turned out really cute! LOL. Anyway that is my how-not-to and this is my how-to:

More Little Laughter

2009-03-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

This video was actually taken in December, but I couldn't upload it because our computer has a grudge against us. (We like to push it's buttons. lol. j/k. ok, i'm not funny). I have officially outsmarted the computer. *Laughs viciously* I put the videos on a flast drive and put them on another computer to upload them. HAHAHA!! I am successful at last. Just FYI, I might be putting a lot of video posts in a row so I can catch up. :-)

Enjoy!

Mistakes I Make...especially During Time Changes

2009-03-10T17:49:00.001-07:00

As days go by, I learn. Unfortunately, sometimes I don't learn until it's too late and I've already made a mistake. Let's take Sunday for example. I made a few mistakes Sunday.

Mistake:
#1: at 9:30 (which was technically 8:30 because of the time change) I said, "please let me sleep 10 more minutes, I'm so tired"
Result: We were 5 minutes late for church.

#2: I ate second helpings of alfredo and homemade garlic bread after 9:00 PM.
result: Lost at least 2 hours of sleep in the night because of upset stomach.

Last but not least

#3: I sat in a rocking chair in the living room eating supper and watching "Kung Fu Panda" while my son cried himself to sleep and wondered why on earth he was crying...he was fed, changed, and in bed at his normal time and he never cries when I put him to bed.
Result: In a sudden panic of realization around 2 AM it occurred to me that there had been a time change, and technically I had put him to bed an hour early with no explanation to the poor kid. Do I feel guilty you ask? Immensely. Fortunately, he's forgotten about it and we've moved on.

The moral to the story is do your laundry so you have clean clothes, do your dishes so you have clean dishes, and feed the baby so it doesn't starve. After that, you'll probably just want to eat a piece of pie and call it a day because life comes at ya fast and sometimes you're just not ready for it. *sigh*

Little Laughter

2009-03-10T12:57:00.000-07:00

Just a little video to brighten everyone's day...

It sure brightened mine!

Apparently he thinks sneezing is comical.

Baby Love, Family Retreats, and Classmates that do What I Say!

2009-03-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how life changes in the blink of an eye when you have a baby. People told me it would. Did I believe them? Yes. Did I understand what they were saying? I thought so. Was it like I thought? No, absolutely not. The truth is, I was so excited for Noah to be born. I knew it was a new chapter in our lives and we'd have fun sometimes, but I thought it would be more of a responsibility. Don't get me wrong, there is a huge responsibility in being a parent; Probably more of a responsibility than any other thing that exists. What I mean is, I spent my whole adolescent life babysitting and taking care of other people's children, so naturally, I thought that when mine was born it would be like taking care of other people's children, except the parents would never come home to relieve me of my duties because I was the parent. In other words, I thought it would be like a job that never ends.

On the contrary, I love taking care of him. My love for Noah grows every day. I don't see it as a job anymore, but as a privilege. I don't want anyone to get the impression that I didn't enjoy babysitting, because I did; but I'm sure you understand what I mean. Now that I've spent two paragraphs rambling on about how I feel and everybody is probably thoroughly confused, i'm gonna move on to another subject.

After Noah finished his bottle tonight, he just snuggled right up into me and wrapped his arm around my neck and fell asleep. The love that welled up in my heart almost brought me to tears. My eyes are getting teary right now just thinking about it. I could never ask for a bigger blessing. I am so thankful that God gave us Noah.

I listen to Focus on the Family Daily with Doctor Dobson almost every single day. I am constantly reminded of how important it is to train your children and never to let a moment pass without being grateful for them. I encourage all of you to listen to that program on a regular basis. You can listen to it online at focusonthefamily.com and going to the media player.

Well, next time I'm sure I'll have something more interesting for all of you to read about, but for now, here is a picture from our day.

This is a picture from my class this week (Audio-visuals). Why are they looking at a tree? Because I told them to and they do what I say. *laugh's evilly (sp)*

Here is a couple of pictures of family retreat. Adam took Noah on his first four wheeler ride; without my permission I might add. Noah slept like a baby (no pun intended) on the way home because he was so tired. Thank you to Jay and Tanya Slagenweit for the food they gave us and the ride to and from the retreat and wonderful fellowship together!

Thoughts I have in my day

2009-03-04T18:04:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about some things today and I thought I'd let everybody know a little bit more about me.
1. I hate getting my eyes dialated at the eye doctor's office with those nasty yellow drops that sting. Seems like everyone who looks into my eyes for the next few hours can see sraight through to my brain.
2. I LOVE spending time with my husband and son. I already knew this before of course, but I was refreshed today by spending the afternoon walking around with them in the mall. Did we buy anything? not really. Why was it great? We got to spend some quality time together and talk. I love that.
3. In my future, I think a dream I've had has been to build our own house. Of course I wouldn't do the building itself, but it would be cool to build a custom home. :-)
4. I might as well not even try to get Noah to sleep when there are people walking around all around him.
5. From now on for the rest of my life, I will do everything in my power to go out of my way to use the bathrooms at Dillards. They are, by far, the best bathrooms in the mall.
6. Jared doesn't always have to feel obligated to comment on my posts just because he knows I like it.
7. I love butterfinger shakes from Steak and Shake.
8. I wish they didn't cost 4 dollars so I could have one every once in a while.

Those are just a few things about myself that you readers might like to know about me.

Sweet, Sweet Sleep

2009-02-26T07:49:00.000-08:00

Noah has always been an awful nap-taker. It's like pulling teeth to get him to take a nap. If I want him to sleep for a long time at all, I have to rock him or bounce him until he's asleep and hold him the ENTIRE nap. If I put him in his swing, he'll fall asleep pretty fast...and be awake again in 20 minutes. If I put him in his crib, he'll scream for about 15 minutes then fall asleep, then wake up 15 minutes later and do it all over again. *sigh*. Well now he's rolling over every time we lay him down. Typically, he absolutely despises being on his tummy for any length of time.

Much to my surprise, the past couple of days, at nap time I've been just laying him in his crib. Can you believe that he has rolled over an gone to sleep?!?!?! Two things he hates, being on his tummy and taking a nap. Apparently two negatives make a positive! :-) Here are some pictures of him sleeping now that he's rolling over. He doesn't sleep in the same positions he used to. lol.

He rolls around and every once in a while, I see a hand or a foot poking out of the crib. I'm afraid he'll get stuck, but I keep a close eye on him so I can help him if he does. Here he fell asleep with his hand sticking out.

Last but not least here is another picture of my adorable little boy playing on the floor. He is so sweet and loves to play. It honestly is a blast to watch him play.

A Rare Day

2009-02-24T20:23:00.000-08:00

Today was a rare day. Actually this week was a rare week. On Monday, I woke up to the sound of Noah crying in his exersaucer and Adam in the shower with his i-pod stereo thing blaring in the bathroom. Initially I was annoyed that Adam got Noah up and put him in his chair and left him there, but he, as I found out later, actually had good intentions. Noah woke up in the middle of the night because he and I have had a cold and he hasn't been feeling good. well, as I was climbing back into bed, I randomly mentioned that IHOP french toast sounded really good. Somehow, Adam heard me and actually remembered that I said that! (rare #1). Usually, I have to push him off the bed to wake him up at that time of night, that night I got lucky because he heard me. Come to find out, he was in the shower getting ready to leave. He was gonna take Noah out to Walmart and then go get me IHOP french toast to surprise me and let me sleep in! (rare #2).
I don't mean to sound like he never helps me. He helps me all the time. Usually though, i have to ask him for help. It was so nice for him to think of me. It was, needless to say, a great peaceful and relaxing morning (and my IHOP french toast was really yummy, thanks for wondering).
Today, Jared came over and took Noah for a walk. I actually got to take a nap! (rare #3)

It has truly been a great week...and it's only Tuesday!! Hahaha!! hope the rest of the week goes this well. :-)

Time Flies...

2009-02-23T12:33:00.000-08:00

Well, as I was telling Jared earlier this week, I have a hard time thinking of things to write on my blog. He makes it sound so easy. We'll see, but I'll try to do better at writing more often.

Sea Breeze camp was great this year! We had so much fun with visitors! We got to watch 'Fireproof' with twice Keith and Christina Heimlech and once with Joy Gray. It was so much fun to catch up with friends. ( by the way, if you haven't seen that movie...do it)

The Motters (some friends of my family) were down from Lima, Ohio. We had a good time with them too!

After camp ended, my cousin Meaghan Closser came down for a short but sweet visit. It would've been better if Noah and I weren't sick with colds. Poor Noah had shots, a cold, and teething this week, but thank God we got it all overwith in one week. :-) Now we're feeling lots better.

We had a great time when Meg was down here. We went to the beach one day. She loved it....but me....not so much. i'm not really a beach person. It's beautiful, but it's also dirty. Noah put his feet in the ocean for the first time and it scared him to death. Needless to say it'll be a while before we're doing that again.

We took Meaghan to Man Li's chinese restaurant here in Hobe Sound on her last day here. We love to eat there. She ordered crab rangoons under the impression that they would be cream cheese filled little fried pastry thingies. She said up north they are called crab rangoons. well, apparently, in florida, crab rangoons are actually filled with crab. That was kinda funny...and sad. lol.

Noah and Adam across from Meg and I at Man Li's:

We took Noah to the doctor for his 6 month well baby visit this week. I can hardly believe he actually weighed 18 lbs and 15 ozs. Wasn't he just 8 lb 10 oz yesterday? it sure feels like it. I know people always told me they grow up fast, but I didn't know they meant this fast.

We're having a blast with Noah these days. it seems like every day he learns something new. It seems like he's mastered sitting up on his own this week. At first he was scared when we'd sit him down and let go. He'd grab for us and whimper. but now, he just plays and plays. It's so fun to watch him.

Oh, and mom...thanks for my Pampered Chef two liter/can opener/bottle opener magnet. i've been using it practically every day:

Memories

2009-02-12T10:47:00.001-08:00

Wow...so many tragedies close to home in the past couple weeks. The death of Karis Winter (7 years old), the sickness diagnosed to Annie Thompson, pre-mature babies born and dying, it makes a mother really think. I didn't know any of the children (except Annie), but it still brings tears to my eyes. I look at my precious baby and think of all the things I've imagined for him to do. I've imagined Adam teaching him to ride a bike, which tools are which, and how to change the oil in a car. I've been filled with excitement thinking of what his future may hold. I've spent so much time on my knees in prayer pleading to God to help me to point Noah to the cross and asking Him to work in Noah's heart even as a child. To have all those dreams stolen away from you in an instant has to be heart breaking and devastating. My prayers go out to those mothers, fathers, grandparents, siblings, and friends of those poor children.

I can't imagine what life would be like without my little boy. He lights up my life in such an unexpected way. He has already taught me more patience, compassion, and understanding. I always had a little 'goal' to write each of my kids their own little lullaby. It might sound silly, but I always wanted them to have something all their own from me. Without the tune, Noah's lullaby doesn't sound as good because it doesn't rhyme, but I'm gonna write it anyway.

"Once upon a time there was a mommy and a daddy
and they went to God and asked for blessings he could give
That's when God sent down to earth a little baby Noah
and That's when you became our Noah boy
Little Noah
Baby Noah
Mom and dad's true blessing
Mommy loves you
Daddy loves you
and you will always be our Noah boy."

My prayer is that I'll never take that precious child for granted. I pray that I'll treasure every second I have with him, even if he is testing my patience. I don't want to ignore him when he wants to tell me something or give me a hug. I pray that God won't ever let me forget what a blessing my little Noah is to me and Adam.

Momma's Little Laundry Helper

2009-02-12T10:33:00.000-08:00

I think we have way more fun with chores than we're supposed to. Sometimes, as most of you mothers know, it's really hard to get stuff done when you have a little person demanding your attention. Sometimes, I just say "fine, let's play then", and this is what happens...

He loved the tumble dry...lol...j/k

and he helps me fold the clothes, but he can only do the little stuff...like washcloths and underwear, but he refuses to fold our underwear. or maybe he just eats them...lol. j/k again

so then we grab the hangers and hang the clothes up in the closet...me and my helper

Cheesecake Factory

2009-02-11T15:37:00.001-08:00

This was Noah's first time to sit in a restaurant high chair. It was amazing how much happier he was in there then he usually is when we get the chance to go out to eat. On this occasion, Brother Wilson took Brother Cole, Jared, Adam, Noah, and me to eat. It was one evening during Sea Breeze Camp Meeting. The Wilsons have made it a tradition to take us somewhere to eat when they come down for camp. Unfortunately, Sister Wilson couldn't make it due to a family emergency...we did miss her. But we had a great time.

While we were there, Noah ate baby carrots for the first time. When I had fed him about a quarter of the jar, Uncle Jared wanted to try. He was pretty clean when was feeding him...then Jared...

Tummy Time

2009-02-10T11:21:00.000-08:00

Noah has been hating his tummy time. He gets very little of it because he always starts throwing a fit. I'm hoping that soon he starts to enjoy it a little bit so that he will eventually learn to crawl. I think my main fear is that he won't learn to crawl because he won't spend more than 3-5 minutes on his tummy before he starts screaming. oh well...at least he's cute :-)

Good Daddy

2009-02-10T10:55:00.000-08:00

Every day Adam surprises me with how wonderful of a daddy he is. He can make Noah laugh and Noah loves to watch him and follow him around the room with his eyes. Adam was never afraid of a poopy diaper and chooses adorable outfits for him when he dresses him. He takes him over to the church and shows him how to work the sound equipment (within reason). I am so impressed and it's nice to have a husband who isn't afraid of the baby so I can have a break once in a while. Praise God that I have such a wonderful husband and Noah has such a wonderful daddy.

Note to All Parents...

2009-02-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Noah enjoys playing on the floor with his toys and we always put a blanket under him. Well one day, I had something I had to do (like put laundry in the dryer), so I put a blanket down and put him on top of it and left him for a minute to entertain himself. Well....he did.

This scared me to death. I have been so paranoid about him suffocating since then, but a mother can only do so much to protect her child. It was kinda funny, but he is so capable of doing things like this, and I don't like it. It looked like he was having fun though.

Now I know why the doctors and advice books say to keep everything out of the crib and to make sure his sheets and blankets are tucked tightly.

I guess I'm just gonna have to keep a close eye on this little fellow... *sigh*

2009-02-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

Since I haven't been taking classes (at least not often since it's only once a week), I have been having the time of my life playing with my son. He is so much fun! It brings back the kid in me. Even monotonous (sp) chores are more entertaining when he is involved. Here is a picture of him helping me do the dishes.

I had too many bubbles in my dishwater, so I thought to myself, "self, what should you do with the extra bubbles?" I think my conclusion is obvious. We have a great time doing laundry too...but you'll hear more about that in the FuTuRe....

2009-01-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

we had a wonderful time in Indiana. I know people loved seeing us...particularly Noah. Although I missed holding him as much as I'm used to, it was nice to have a break and be able to sleep in for a couple of mornings. I'm usually up early every morning with Noah. Noah got more toys for Christmas than he even knows what to do with. Every day he finds something new to play with. He's almost sitting up on his own. He just needs a tiny bit of help. He and I have been having a blast and he seems to laugh and smile all day long. Thanks for checking up on us!

Holidays are Just Beginning!

2008-12-29T18:38:00.000-08:00

So...for everybody else the holidays are almost over, but for us it's just beginning. Only 2 more days before we leave for INDIANA! We are so excited! It's about time we got a nice long vacation! I'm a little nervous about taking a 4 month old on a 16 1/2 hour drive, but I know we'll have so much fun when we get there. Please pray for us though. Safe travel, good travelling baby, and a relaxing and refreshing vacation. God bless everyone in the beginning of this new year!

Our Christmas Pictures

2008-12-18T10:01:00.000-08:00

It's our second Christmas as husband and wife and our first Christmas with our beautiful son. We had our friend Erica take some pictures of us for Christmas and they turned out beautiful. Although there are about 100 of them, I'm just gonna post a few of my favorites. You can look on our facebook profile to see all of them if you want to.

I Love My Boy!

2008-12-09T11:41:00.001-08:00

Noah is just getting cuter every day. OK, so I am is mom, I obviously think that, but can anybody disagree??? huh??? No. Anyway, He is so happy and smiley these days. He loves to look around and see everything. He doesn't like to be held toward us, but away from us. He is so curious and gets excited sooo easily. I love watching him learn and grow and discover new things. He's been finding his feet and hands. He'll just watch his feet move with amazement and he'll watch himself clasp his hands together. He makes me laugh every day!

He slept in a chair next to me while I was on the computer. He looked so snuggly and cute. I had to take a picture. My precious Noah. It is times like these that make me want lots of children. (but don't worry, there are other not so cute times that make me want to have NO more children :-)

Baby's First Rice Cereal!

2008-12-09T11:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Noah tried baby cereal for the first time! I can't believe how much he's growing! Where is my baby going so fast? Isn't he supposed to be my baby forever? It was so adorable. First he made an awful face, but then, after three bites or so, he opened his mouth for the spoon and everything. I had fun giving it to him and watching his expressions. I absolutely LOVE being his mother.

2008-12-03T07:52:00.000-08:00

Here are some newer pictures of my little pumpkinhead. I love this boy. These pics were taken over Thanksgiving break. Although I wish we could've gone home to see our families, we spend this Thanksgiving in Ft. Myers. We got to see our adopted grandparents and eat Thanksgiving dinner at the Ft. Myers rescue mission. Noah got to see his first turtles and ducks. It was a blast. We are so thankful for our family and friends and our sweet sweet baby boy.

GOD IS SO GOOD!!

2008-11-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of our first flight to Indiana on October 30th. Noah did SOOO much better than I thought he would. He had a great time looking around and seeing new things. People thought he was adorable everywhere we went. Flight attendants absolutely loved him. He would eat, then smile and play, then fall asleep, back and forth. He barely cried on the trip there or on the trip back. I was completely and totally surprised and impressed. The landings were a little tough for him though. He cried during landings. I just tried to be sure and have a bottle or pacifier for him at that time to help his ears.

All of our families were so excited to meet him for the first time. Aunt Brenda and Aunt Aletha fought over who he liked better. Noah had fun watching them and meeting them. Grandma James had a great time showing him off to all her friends at work (and wherever else). We dressed him in his COLTS football onesie to show our loyalty to Indiana's football team (regardless of the fact that they are stinking up the field this season). Everybody loved his outfit and thought he was so adorable. He just kept soaking up the attention.

COLTS!!!!!

2008-10-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

Our house was 55 degrees last night. it was SOOOO COLD!! we were under the impression that our house didn't have a heater. Noah had on his PJs, sweats with a hoodie, socks, wrapped in a blanket and 3 blankets on top of that. We now know that we, in reality, did have a heater, and now we feel very...uh...silly. Hopefully we'll never have to endure such torture again.

2008-10-28T19:30:00.001-07:00

2008-10-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

This week we are getting ready to go home to Indiana for the weekend. We are so excited! By the time this week is out, Adam and I will have gained a new sister-in-law. It will be Noah's first time in Indiana (out of the womb). Everyone is so excited to see him, and Adam and I are so excited to show him off! We got Noah an adorable little suit to wear to the wedding and I can't wait to put it on him!

2008-10-28T19:00:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook