Another Week in the Life...

We've been busy! After a whirlwind trip to PA, the last few days have been full of "catch-up" activities--cleaning house, laundry, etc. I cooked and pureed my very own pumpkin that we picked from the pumpkin patch last week--that was a LOT more work than I thought it would be, but the pumpkin roll I made with it was delicious! (Thanks for the recipe, Emily!) There is a lot more pumpkin in the freezer waiting to be turned into tasty fall treats.

We brought Daniel's dog back with us from Pennsylvania and have had fun playing with him and getting him acclimated to Sampson life. Daniel's happy to have him back.

On the road to Pennsylvania.

Five minutes later... :) 

The wind was cold, so we had to bundle up on our walk, still showing our St. Louis spirit.

Watching football with Uncle Dave.

All dressed up for G.G.'s funeral.

Hanging out with Grammy.

Noah getting one last snuggle with Aunt Mandie and Uncle Dave (and Cousin Gracie).

Lovin' from Paparoo.

Even if it isn't snowing (you can keep it Pennsylvania!) we like to stay warm.  

Our Hearts Are Heavy...

We had to make a quick trip to Pennsylvania this week. Daniel got a phone call on Friday that his grandmother had unexpectedly passed away in her sleep. We hurriedly packed and jumped in the car for the long drive to his parents' house.We're thankful we could be here with the family, and it's fun for everyone to see Noah again (and us), but we're sad. We miss you G.G.! Prayers are appreciated as tomorrow (Tuesday) will be tough for everyone while we say goodbye at her funeral.

She got to be a great grandma!

A Hodgepodge

I think this is the longest I've gone without blogging for a while! But we've been busy. :) With seemingly little things, but busy nonetheless.

Noah is doing great. He's bearing weight on his legs for up to 30 seconds or more at a time. He started doing raspberries today (Grandma Shoemaker spent a lot of time over the past few days "teaching" him). He can sit with just a little support at his mid to lower back. His hair is growing in more and looks like chicken fuzz on top of his head--but he now has a bald spot at the back of his head (the price we pay for him sleeping in his crib!) :) Still not rolling over, but he's tolerating tummy time a little better. His sleep is still terrible...well, not terrible, but not great. He did go eight hours between feedings last night, even though he woke up once inbetween. But three nights ago, he woke up every hour for 4 hours. So we're definitely not consistent, but hopefully he's getting there. We love him!

Trying out his activity seat for the first time.

I think he likes it!

Our first trip to the pumpkin patch. There were a lot of activities there--Noah will probably enjoy it a lot more next year!

Finally starting to watch his hands!

One finger is never enough.

Grandma teaching Noah to do raspberries.

He looks like a complete chub-o in this picture!

You can't tell it really well, but Grandpa put gel in Noah's hair to make it spike a little in the front.

Family boy hang-out time. Brody, Matthew and Noah.

We got a new roof today! Nap time was interesting, but the house looks better.

The Boehmer's gave us really cute letters for Noah's room. We love them!

Three Months!

    This post is full of adorable baby pictures. Noah wasn't as smiley during our photo shoot today, but I think he's still pretty cute! I couldn't narrow the selection down...hopefully it didn't take too long for your web page to load! 

    Updates from the last week: We haven't graduated from the swaddler after all...the third night of putting Noah to bed without it, it took him over half an hour of crying before I finally swaddled him, and he fell instantly to sleep. We haven't tried bedtime without it since. We went back to "Ferbering" him again a little last week (our sleep training) to try to get him to go a little longer throughout the night without waking up. Now he's doing 7 to 7 1/2 hours in a row his first stretch, and then sleeping 4 hours more, which has us down to one nighttime feeding. Yay! His naps have also been really good for the past few days--he's been doing two 2-3 hour naps pretty consistently (though Monday he took a FIVE HOUR nap! Crazy.)

    Daniel and I went to a parenting conference at church last weekend and sent Noah to the nursery for the first time. The workers said he was the best baby there when we went to pick him up. Go, Noah! 

    Emily kept Noah while Daniel and I went on an anniversary date Sunday. 

    Daniel kept Noah for a couple of hours last night while I went to MOPS. I'm really enjoying getting to know that group of ladies and it's good for Daniel and Noah to have that time together. Daniel even had to change a poopy diaper! 

    My sweet friend Kayla came to visit today with her new baby, Zoe (you'll see a picture farther down). We didn't get a picture with Kayla and Noah because he chose to fall asleep before we got one taken. 

    I'm super proud of Daniel, who got a flu shot today to protect his baby! Good job, honey!