As If I Didn't Have Enough To Do...

You might remember a really cute onesie with a tie on it that Noah had...he outgrew it pretty quickly, and we were really sad about this because we thought it was super cute. Well, I decided to take a stab at making my own version using some of the leftover material from Noah's curtain project last week...
I googled for a tutorial online but all of them were applique and had the whole tie attached to the onesie. I wanted my tie to "flap". The one tutorial I found that agreed with me left the outer edge to unravel, which I didn't want. So here's my first attempt...No judging! :)

I started by printing a template I found online, cut it out, and pinned it to the material. I pinned the knot to the folded edge so I could reverse it smoothly (you'll see later..)

This is the knot unfolded. I folded the top edges down just a hair and ran a straight stitch along it to keep it from unraveling.

At the same time I pinned two pieces of the tie part together, wrong sides on the outside and ran a stitch along the outer edge (but not along the top.)

Then I folded the knot with the wrong sides on the outside and ran a stitch along the sides (but not the top or bottom).

And then pushed the bottom in between the two layers and out the top, so now the knot is right side out, and ironed it flat.

I did the same thing to reverse the tie, making it right side out, and ironed it flat.

With these two pieces being the end result.

Using iron-on hem tape, I attached the knot to the tie, and then attached the knot to the onesie.

And ta-da! The cutest onesie I've ever made! :) 

Now there is probably a much better way to do this...I am by no means a professional, but I thought this was a decent first attempt! I learned from this first one (to make bigger seams, for example) and hopefully the next one will be even better. I'm planning on using material from a button down shirt that Daniel no longer wants...

Also, I did all of this, AND made this blog post, in the time it took Noah to nap. So excited to have put my sewing machine to use again!

Two Years...

Happy Anniversary to my favorite husband! :)

Week 12

Just shy of three months!

I would have gone back to work today...I definitely miss it--a lot--but I'm glad I don't have to leave my sweet baby boy. He is completely morphing into a daddy's boy. Daniel can get him to smile just by saying his name while I sometimes have to work and work to see his dimples. It's pretty cute to see how quickly he reacts to his daddy. They sure love each other (as clearly seen in the bathtime video!)!

It's funny how our thinking has changed. I used to think in "Facebook". What I mean is that when things would happen, I would try to think about how to word it in an interesting status for Facebook. Now when things happen, we tell each other to "put it on the blog", or "take a picture for the blog". So thanks for giving us a reason to continue updating the blog and helping us document our son's life to cement our memories.

I thought last week was going to be quiet, but we ended up finding things to do, as always. Noah and I joined a research study, so we had appointments for that. We had our first home group Bible study, which was great. God was definitely helping us out--Noah fell asleep on the way, and slept the whole time we were there! Then I had a fun date night with Emily while Daniel kept Noah for a couple hours. Daniel took Noah to run errands on Saturday while I got some deep cleaning done around the house. And then my parents came Saturday. Sunday, Daniel and I went to the Rams game while Noah stayed with Grandma and Grandpa (I'm getting good at leaving him!) but it wasn't a very good game. Today, Noah and I took a trip to Union, MO to see Megan and Sam's new house. It's really cute--I love the paint colors! :)

Showing off our Cardinal spirit!

The whole family ready for our boys to win!

Our view of the field.

Hanging out with Grandpa.

We think we've graduated from the swaddler! Good thing, since he was busting out of it pretty regularly. We've put him to bed the past 2 nights without it, and he's sleeping just like he was with it!  Don't worry, this was just a nap. We don't put him to bed with a blanket.

We like to watch the Sing-Off. Even Noah is captivated! Last night, he was "talking" through the whole show. 

Learning how to sew with my "new" sewing machine. Thanks for the help, Mom!

First project complete. Before (on the left) and after (on the right).--but both sides are completed now.

Greatest time I had with my son last night.

Here is your next quick fix :)

Week 11

We left Noah with the Boehmer's Wednesday night while Daniel and I went to a church dinner--I didn't do so great (it was the first time I had left him with someone other than Daniel...and maybe I cried a little...) but Noah was reportedly very good. Thursday night we had our first small group Bible study--well, it was a meet and greet at a restaurant--the actual study will start this week. Maybe all the activity wore Noah out, because Thursday night, he slept NINE HOURS before waking up for a feed, and then slept three more! Friday and Saturday night he slept eight hours followed by three more! I thought we were on a roll, but Sunday and Monday he only slept five hours his first stretch. I don't know what we did differently, but those three nights were AMAZING!! :)

We had another fun weekend in Lebanon. Daniel and I went to a huge children's consignment sale in Springfield with Ryan and Danielle and left Noah in Lebanon with Chris and Jodi. (Noah--and I--did great.) Our shopping was successful--maybe too successful--as we got Noah a load of clothes including winter coats and some toys. While in Springfield, we had to have a lunch outing to Lambert's, of course. Saturday was finished off by a surprise birthday party for my brother Mark (Happy 50th!). Sunday included church, lunch at Bub & Rae's (his wings are always delicious) and football watching at Chris & Jodi's. We also picked up our pictures from our newborn photo shoot when Noah was 10 days old--we're excited to finally get those up and displayed. And I got a sewing machine from my mom via Janice that used to be my grandma's. I'm hoping to get some material soon to make curtains for Noah's room (he only has valences, and I'm hoping if we can make it a little darker, he'll nap better in his crib...). And we scored a Christmas tree--for $10!! We lost ours in the apartment fire, and thought we would be tree-less this year and find one on clearance after Christmas. Now we don't have to do that!

This week is supposed to be a quiet one, but my parents will be here this weekend!

Noah showing off his new shoes from the consignment sale. Only $1!

We met Dad for lunch at work this week. It was a beautiful day to eat lunch outside. 

Noah meeting our Bible study leader, Scott, for the first time.

Ryan and Danielle got matching onesies for Noah and Matthew (they say, "My mommy is exhausted"). ..

...unfortunately, Noah wasn't feeling up to pictures...

Levi finally got the courage to hold Noah--we're working on him, Brooke! :) 

Noah and Matthew were more in the mood for pictures Sunday after church.

With Addie and Brody, too.

Brody was teaching Matthew and Noah some football rules.

Noah had a little accident on Uncle Chris's lap...whoops! Sorry to get it on your favorite shirt, Uncle Chris!

Noah has been talking a lot more in the past couple weeks. We tried to capture it on video, but of course he wasn't as chatty when the camera was on. We still thought the video clips were cute, so we're sharing them here.

I Title My Posts Before I Write Them...

We have had such an overwhelming response since I asked for comments. :) Whether it's by commenting here, by word of mouth, by Facebook, by email, by text, or by phone, it's been so encouraging to hear of your support and love for our family. Thanks for following and watching us grow!

Today was Noah's 2 month well baby check up. He is doing great. He is up to 14 pounds 13.2 ounces (the 85 percentile--you can't say I'm not feeding him!) and 24" (also the 85 percentile). Dr. Rohatgi opted to keep Noah on the Zantac (his reflux med) for now since he's been so comfortable. Noah had completely stopped spitting up for a few weeks, but has started again the past week, and Dr. R. is concerned that uncomfortableness (I made that word up) will follow. So he upped his dose a tad, and we'll keep it going until the next visit. Noah got 4 vaccines, but only two shots. He didn't even hardly react to the first, but wailed so hard after the second (we saw his first real tear!), and was asleep by the time we got to the car! He always sleeps so well after his shots--so far I've made a batch of sourdough bread, some peanut butter oatmeal coconut cookies, and have steaks marinating for dinner tonight (we love that grill!). We also completed the Ages and Stages Questionnaire and so far Noah is right on track for development with his communication, gross motor, fine motor, problem solving, and personal-social skills. We just know he smiles and "talks" all the time! We're waiting to hear that first real laugh. :)

I left Noah with Daniel for the first time last week. Well, I had left him one other time for about an hour. But this time, Daniel was in charge of a feeding, bathtime, storytime and prayers, and going to bed. He did awesome! Noah slept 7 hours the night Daniel put him down! (Maybe he should do it all the time??) :) We're leaving Noah for the first time tomorrow night with the Boehmer's for a couple of hours while we go to a dinner at church. Then Saturday, Noah is going to stay with Uncle Chris and Aunt Jodi while we go shopping in Springfield (and possibly to lunch at Lambert's!) with Ryan and Danielle. That'll be a big test for me--leaving him for that long and going that far (only 45 minutes!) away. Noah will do great--it's me I'm worried about. :)

It's almost become the norm to get peed on during bathtime. Four times in the past week, we had the pleasure! We're getting used to being prepared at all times!

We're praying for Aunt Denise today (she's having surgery). In her honor, we sterilized pacifiers. (She and I have a joke going about cleaning Noah's pacifiers...she'll appreciate this gesture). :)

It's been getting a little chilly on our morning walks--we're thankful for this cute jacket from Aunt Sally! 

Sometimes you just need snuggle time with Mom...

Noah gets a little fussier during the evenings...when that happens he loves to lay in this position and I swing my legs from side to side--I'm definitely getting a workout!

Dad loves this onesie with a matching hat. Too bad we put it on on a cloudy/rainy day!

Children's Place Contest

Vote for Noah to win a shopping spree at Children's Place!
You can vote every day for the next week!!

Go to http://childrensplace.promo.eprize.com/model
Enter your email address.
On the next page, click "View Gallery".
On the right corner, it says "Go to entry ID". Type in 539558. Click "Go" and vote for Noah!  


You can vote every day for the next week!!

His picture looks like this:

OT Videos

These videos are mostly for Amy...we thought you might like some videos for your presentation. If you can't save them from here, let me know and I'll send you a CD. The first three are head control (on the Boppy and on his stomach) and the last one shows legs kicking against gravity. All of them are at 9 weeks old. Let me know if you want more or different shots!

Mornings with Noah

Wouldn't you want to go get this baby up in the morning, too??

Two Months!

Our baby boy is two months old today! We've learned so much about him in the past weeks, and he changes every day. He's starting to make a few more cooing and "ah" sounds (music to this speech therapist mom's ears!) and his smile is a lot more consistent. We can get one out of him almost any time if we work hard enough, but his best times are first thing in the morning (he grins up at me when I go to get him out of bed) and bathtime. Daniel says he even got a little bit of a laugh yesterday. He's still growing like a weed (size 2 diapers already!) and we're starting to put away 0-3 clothes. Sleep is going so much better (we had an 8 hour stretch two days ago!! but we're consistently getting 6 hours at night along with 2-3 good naps a day). His favorite toy is still the playmat, but he's enjoying the swing more and  more these days too. We're still working on tummy time--his head control is amazing, but now we're working on baby pushups (he hasn't done them yet) and rolling over. 

His 2 month well baby check-up is next week---he'll get 4 vaccines that day. Yikes. Pray for both of us! :)

Sometimes tummy time just isn't that fun.

And sometimes it's a little more tolerable. :)

One side of our clothesline is much cuter than the other...

Saturday afternoon naptime.

Love his bright eyes...they're still dark bluish gray...

Sometimes it's just hard work being so cute...Noah, I mean.

Are you ready for some football???

The first of many Sunday afternoons...and Monday nights...and Thursday nights...

It's my birthday!!

I love being 2!

It's just so fun to get my picture taken! :)

I am definitely a morning baby...

This is my serious face.

Okay. Mom, maybe that's enough pictures...

No really, I'm done...