Random winter/early Spring pictures

Because where else would you eat a pop-tart?!



supper club buddies: Noah and Aiden



More supper club fun



All tuckered out. Can't you just see the halo?



Before we left for school one morning, Noah insisted on "tucking in Elmo" and he gave him his 3 most prized possessions: his "balpie" (blanket), his special Elmo pillow and one of his "need thats" (his cloth security blankie)



Noah and one of his BFF "Landon"



Bath time fun



Being silly in the car


Aiden, Noah and Landon

Do I need to attend a "Germ-Freak Anonymous" meeting?

I know that at approximately the same nano-second that the umbilical cord is cut in the delivery room, most women turn from ordinary, sane adults into an over-protective germ freak mommy. I didn't escape that transition but when you consider the fact that I AM an RN and I do come from a mother who (in my opinion) has MUCHO extreme germ/dirt issues...it's really no surprise. Oh yeah, and then you combine those 2 tidbits with the fact that I gave birth to a kid with apparently NO immune system who gets sick if he even looks at a germ. I admit, I am the hand-washing police and I drive David crazy but he's slowly getting used to *my* ways. Against popular belief, husbands ARE slightly trainable. So the other day I overheard Noah going around the house saying "No! It's dirty" which sounds more like, "No!, diiirrrr-heeee" but I knew what he was saying, and after a few minutes I figured out why. I think in the course of one day I must sound like a broken record (not that anyone in the current generation even knows what a record is) because it seems like all I say all day long is:

"No, don't TOUCH that, it's dirty!" or
"No, don't LICK that, it's dirty!" or
"No, don't EAT that, it's dirty!" or
"No, don't DRINK that, it's dirty!" or
"No, don't SUCK on that, it's dirty!"

Noah is a good kid, but he goes through the same phases all other little ones go through, and yes, I often find him doing things like drinking dirty bath water, drinking kiddie pool water (can you say e-coli?), eating a peanut off the floor in the public restroom, touching dog poo on the ground, licking the turnstile at Disney World and last, but certainly not least....sucking on the toilet scrub brush he found in the corner of the bathroom. EEEWwwwwwww! I have to say, seeing him eat a peanut off the floor in the public bathroom was an all-time low for me and I very nearly needed therapy with the toilet scrub brush incident. I was dry-heaving. He was laughing.

So, it's no wonder that I hear him going around talking about how dirty things are. Now, if only he would practice what he preaches! But actually, yesterday he came inside from playing outside with Daddy and the first thing he said was "Wash hands, wash hands!"

I was bursting with pride. It was my proudest mommy moment ever!

Southern Snow

Every once in a while Atlanta gets snow. It never seems to occur when the weather forecasters actually predict it....but it does happen occasionally. And as typical Southerners, we go nuts over the precious 1-2 inches we may get. The grocery stores have bare shelves, schools close, roads close and everyone acts like it is the blizzard of the century! Some things will never change. We finally got some snow this year and it came on March 1st. It was just enough to be pretty. It came down pretty hard for several hours...and it was so peaceful to watch it. There was just enough to cover the ground and give everything a beautiful,thin white layer. Everyone in Atlanta, including many of our neighbors were outside making snowmen, having snowball fights and taking lots of pictures of the memorable event for their kids' scrapbooks. Sadly enough, we were secretly relieved Noah didn't seem to care and never asked to go outside and we stayed inside our warm, cozy house all day! Pathetic, yes.

So where are all these snow pictures from you may ask? They are from Atlanta's newest winter attraction: the FAKE snow at Snow Mountain! Yes, down here in the South, we have to rely on FAKE snow for a good time in the winter months! For three months in the winter, Stone Mountain adds 3 football fields worth of deep snow, with a 400-foot tubing hill and a 30,000-square-foot snow play area. We went for our nephew Christian's 5th birthday party January 31st and I haven't had a chance to post the pictures until this week....when the "real" snow reminded me! Noah had a blast on the "kiddie" tubing area since he wasn't old enough for the big kids/adult tubing run. He didn't care...he had so much fun anyway and went down the little path on his sled about 30 times it seemed! We weren't sure what to expect since he hated the snow last year (the ONE time it snowed here)andhated the sand at the beach this summer. A good time was had by all 3 of us and we were all ready for a long winter's nap when it was over!

A few updates...

I haven't posted in a while and as usual it's because we've all been sick. We've all been sick since Christmas actually. We just can't break the continual cycle of Noah getting sick and then infecting either David or myself (we take turns) and then by the time David and I are better, Noah gets sick again and the cycle starts all over. I sure do wish Noah could share his toys as easily as he seems to like to share his germs! We took him to the doctor and ENT again but the only words of wisdom they had was that he doesn't seem to have a great immune system. No, really???? Would have never guessed that! His ear tubes have come out on their own (which is normal) so we are waiting to see if he needs additional tube placement. Hopefully he won't go back to getting fluid in his ears and having ear infections.

Noah continues to LOVE school and especially music class. He has learned "Twinkle twinkle little star" and "The wheels on the bus" and will eagerly sing along. He also takes such pride in his artwork...it's amazing how early kids learn to be proud of something they accomplished or made. He gets soooo excited when I display his artwork on the fridge. He seems to have no interest in potty training so we haven't tackled that project yet. Some of his new favorite phrases are "HELP!!!", "What's that?", "Come on Mommy!" and "OH NO!!!!" and he says them all with such extreme animation, it is so adorable. Except when he yells "HELP!!" is is such a loud, panic-filled exclamation that I always come running to him, expecting to find him dangling upside down from the chandelier in some near-death pose only to find that he is yelling "Help!!" with such intensity merely because he can't reach the crayon he dropped behind the couch. He still hasn't learned the appropriate use and tone of that word yet! He continues to sing the alphabet song approximately 200 times a day and knows his ABC's forward and backwards. He wakes up from every nap and every night of sleep happily singing his ABC's and shouting "N-O-A-H" form his crib. He may not talk a whole lot but he knows how to spell!

He is continuing to eat A LOT! After his rapid weight loss before the surgery, he quickly put on 5 pounds in a matter of weeks. He actually finally outgrew some of his clothes for once. Of course, as with all toddlers, I never know from one day to the next what he is going to like to eat, it is a continual guessing game but all I care about is he is eating!

It's obvious who picks out Noah's clothes

This past Fall was a very exciting football season at our house, at least for me. The Gators went all the way to the National Championship game and won for the 2nd time in just 3 years (Their 3rd title since 1996). January 8th was game day and I sent Noah to school that day dressed head to toe in orange and blue. Luckily he came home from his (heavily Bulldog biased school) with no bruises or scratches. Noah loved wearing his Gator attire, but...sigh...I still can't get him to say "Go Gators!" or do "the chomp" with his hands. I keep trying. When he sees a football, despite my valiant efforts, he shouts "football...GEORGIA.....DAWGS....touchdown" or some other combination of those 4 words. I'll keep trying. We have 7 months to practice for the '09 season!

January Fun

Eating out is quite different these days....we now have a child (not a baby) who quietly colors at the table instead of fidgets/cries, sits in a booster (not a high chair), get his own kids' meal...and actually spends the majority of the time eating it all! Just when we thought eating out would always be a miserable experience...we are actually enjoying it.




Here is Noah getting ready to go to school on "Pajama Day" (not without first saying Good-bye to his precious farm animals) Pajama Day was coincidentally I think the coldest day in Georgia history---it couldn't have been more than 15 degrees that day. Luckily the kids stayed inside in their nice cozy pj's and made pancakes.



Yes...this is a picture of our child...hugging....a pig. He got these 5 plastic farm animals for Christmas from his Grandpa Lee and Grandma Terry...and out of all the tons of xmas gifts this kid got, these are by far his favorite. He plays with these animals ALL day long, carries them from room to room, loads them in and out of his dump truck, tucks them into bed...it is quite comical.



If we come near the animals he gathers them all up in his arms in this protective pose and shouts very loudly "NO! MINE!" When I saw this picture I was thinking it was a really cute picture of Noah's face and maybe I could crop it and blow it up...but there's just nothing I can do about the fact that he would still technically be practically kissing a horse's behind.



We got a Harry & David Fruit of the month subscription from David's brother Mike and sister-in-law Bea and Noah has been in heaven enjoying the delicious pears. If he spots one on the counter he climbs up in his high chair and says "MY PEAR! MY PEAR!" and proceeds to eat the entire enormous pear...he occasionally shares a bite with Mommy if I ask nicely.



The fun of playgrounds in the winter. Check out the static hair!!



The hair is so funny!



Noah also got for xmas an electronic cookie monster and one of those latest craze "Elmo Live" dolls. I think he believes the real characters from Sesame Street have come to live with us. He has no idea they aren't real. They sure do seem real. Elmo laughs, tells jokes, tells stories, raps, sings, dances and interacts with Noah. We've caught Noah trying to feed him on several occasions (when Elmo asks for a snack), tucking him in, giving him kisses and forcing him to kiss Cookie Monster...which I'm pretty sure he hasn't seen on the show yet!



More fun with Elmo



Walking in mommy's boots...easier said than done. I had no idea he found them but he had them on (the correct feet) and was walking around the house before I even noticed.

And here is the answer

I had to share this on my blog. I stumbled across this newspaper clipping (on facebook of all places)and when I read the article I had to find it online so I could copy and paste it here to share. It is a "Dear Carolyn" article from The Washington Post about what it is we stay-at-home moms do all day...


TELL ME ABOUT IT ®

By Carolyn Hax
Wednesday, May 23, 2007;

Dear Carolyn:

Best friend has child. Her: exhausted, busy, no time for self, no time for me, etc. Me (no kids): Wow. Sorry. What'd you do today? Her: Park, play group . . .

Okay. I've done Internet searches, I've talked to parents. I don't get it. What do stay-at-home moms do all day? Please no lists of library, grocery store, dry cleaners . . . I do all those things, too, and I don't do them EVERY DAY. I guess what I'm asking is: What is a typical day and why don't moms have time for a call or e-mail? I work and am away from home nine hours a day (plus a few late work events) and I manage to get it all done. I'm feeling like the kid is an excuse to relax and enjoy -- not a bad thing at all -- but if so, why won't my friend tell me the truth? Is this a peeing contest ("My life is so much harder than yours")? What's the deal? I've got friends with and without kids and all us child-free folks get the same story and have the same questions.

Tacoma, Wash.

And here is the SO TRUE answer!
Relax and enjoy. You're funny.

Or you're lying about having friends with kids.

Or you're taking them at their word that they actually have kids, because you haven't personally been in the same room with them.

Internet searches?

I keep wavering between giving you a straight answer and giving my forehead some keyboard. To claim you want to understand, while in the same breath implying that the only logical conclusions are that your mom-friends are either lying or competing with you, is disingenuous indeed.

So, since it's validation you seem to want, the real answer is what you get. In list form. When you have young kids, your typical day is: constant attention, from getting them out of bed, fed, clean, dressed; to keeping them out of harm's way; to answering their coos, cries, questions; to having two arms and carrying one kid, one set of car keys, and supplies for even the quickest trips, including the latest-to-be-declared-essential piece of molded plastic gear; to keeping them from unshelving books at the library; to enforcing rest times; to staying one step ahead of them lest they get too hungry, tired or bored, any one of which produces the kind of checkout-line screaming that gets the checkout line shaking its head.

It's needing 45 minutes to do what takes others 15.

It's constant vigilance, constant touch, constant use of your voice, constant relegation of your needs to the second tier.

It's constant scrutiny and second-guessing from family and friends, well-meaning and otherwise. It's resisting constant temptation to seek short-term relief at everyone's long-term expense.

It's doing all this while concurrently teaching virtually everything -- language, manners, safety, resourcefulness, discipline, curiosity, creativity. Empathy. Everything.

It's also a choice, yes. And a joy. But if you spent all day, every day, with this brand of joy, and then, when you got your first 10 minutes to yourself, wanted to be alone with your thoughts instead of calling a good friend, a good friend wouldn't judge you, complain about you to mutual friends, or marvel how much more productively she uses her time. Either make a sincere effort to understand or keep your snit to yourself.


Well I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking this "Carolyn" person must be a mom!

The last of the Christmas pictures!

OK, after this post I am officially done blogging/posting pictures from the holidays! But I had to include some pictures from our trip to Denver since that is where we actually spent Christmas this year. This was my first Christmas not in the South. I've only spent December 25th in Florida or Georgia so I've never really had a "white" Christmas and before moving to Georgia, it was just a treat to not have to use the air conditioning during Christmas dinner.

As with all of our trips and vacations, this one was not without a few trips to the local ER and pediatrician. Just before leaving for the Atlanta airport to travel to Denver, my mom fell down OUR basement stairs (how do you spell G-U-I-L-T?) and banged herself up pretty badly. She ended up fracturing both arms and busting up her face, requiring some stitches. So the first few days in Denver were spent getting her into the orthoped, stitches removed, etc. She was so excited about Christmas with all 4 grandkids and then couldn't even pick them up. :( In addition to that, naturally Noah was sick and shared his bug with David and I. We took him to the pediatrician in Denver (the same one we saw this past summer when he was sick again on vacation). When leaving their office they half-jokingly said "So will we be seeing you at Spring Break?" I can't believe we have our own pediatrician 2000 miles away and they even have a fairly thick file on our child! Anyway, we all managed to have a fun time despite illnesses and injuries! It was very cold; there was snow on the ground but no new snow while we were there; Uncle David and Aaron took the girls snow skiing for one day; the kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with each other; Santa found us all the way out there in Denver; Noah LOVED his new toys; Stacy cooked a fabulous Christmas dinner; We had lots of good family time and even spent most nights playing games or watching movies. It was a great holiday for us!