Catching Up

Oooook. SO it's been awhile. Sorry! I have been trying to lose the baby weight, working a ton, playing with my babies, and starting my Mary Kay business. I'm hoping things will be slowing down soon, but with the holidays around the corner, I have a feeling they are only going to pick up.

Noah had his fourth birthday party, he is getting to be so big! At his 4 year well child check up he was 40 lbs, and was 43 inches tall. Soon( like next week) he will start preschool. These last four years have gone by way to fast. It makes me excited to see how much he has learned, and how smart he is, but at the same time, it makes me sad. Noah was my little boy for so long, and now he won't let me call him baby. He always tells me " No mom, I'm not a baby, I'm a big boy". He sings his ABCs, and can count to 13. He loves to take pictures with the camera, and is a little dare devil. He is in love with any sort of super hero, and no matter how much of a big boy he is during the day, he isn't to big to crawl into our bed at night. He is my little string bean pole, my big boy, and my best helper. He loves to help me cook, and always is willing to run and fetch things for me. Like when I have put Henry into the tub and realize I don't have his towel, or when I'm in the middle of changing Henry and he has poop all the way up his back and I have run out of wipes. He likes to sing Henry songs, and loves to climb on everything and anything. He has an obsession with torndogs and loves to tell us things, like " We need to go to dame top(game stop) and get a new dame". He definitely has my streak of being stubborn and impatient. He has the most amazing hazel eyes and has the best dance moves this side of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Henry is now going to be four months old in less than a week. Tonight we fed him rice cereal for the first time, and he is snoozing away. Normally he is awake at this time, but he might sleep the whole night through without waking up. I don't mind when he wakes up in the middle of the night, it gives me a chance for a cuddle and some close time with him while he nurses. The way he hums when he eats, and his little eyelashes on his cheek, just makes me feel so relaxed. Pretty soon he will need to sleep in his crib, but I haven't had the heart to have him sleep alone in his room all alone. He has his own little schedule, and isn't afraid to let you know it when he is upset. Very recently his cries have changed. He coos and babbles so much now, and smiles so much. Especially at Matt. I feel that this point isn't fair. I am the one who wakes up in the middle of the night for feeding and changing, I am the one who feeds him from my body, and yet, every time he sees Matt he just lights right up. He has Matt's blue eyes and blond hair, but he makes this little face that I use to make when I was little, and Matt told me that when we are asleep we do the same thing with out lips. At Henry's last appointment he was 22 1/2 inches long, and was 13 lbs. He is starting to get some rolls to him, but he still seems little compared to other babies about his age. We just got an exercauser for him, and he loves to sit in it. Henry seems to be our thinker child. He is quiet and inquisitive, and loves his routine. He is easy baby, and yet is some what picky. He is his father's child all over.

Matt has been working and playing with the kids. He went to Canada for two weeks to fight fire, and returned home mid- July.We might be looking for a new place to live soon. I have started a new job at a wonderful assisted living facility in the area, and it feels so good to be working with the elderly once again. I find it very rewarding, and would love to make a career out of it. I still work fill-in at my old job, which is nice for a little supplemental income. We added a new family member a few weeks ago, his name is Chester, and he is a long haired Chihuahua. He is silly and loving, and does very well with everyone. Cleavland loves to chase and attack him, and vice versa. Cleavland is now an indoor and outdoor cat. He goes out and usually comes back in by the night time. He has saved my garden from bunnies, and has probably put a dent into the world population of sparrows and voles. Grover is still big and dopey, and the best four legged friend a family could ask for. I need to make a point of updating this regularly, so hopefully there will be another post this upcoming week! Here are some pictures from this past two months.

Updates & Happenings

Ok, so I have alot to spill, but I just haven't had the inclination to post anything.

First things first...Noah is compltley potty trained! No night time accidents, poops in the toilet, whole nine yards thing! Yay! We couldn't be more thrilled, since Baby Wap is due to make his entrance to this world soon. We are very proud of our big boy, who seems to be doing more and more big boy things. We recently have been seeing some regression, (we think) due to the baby situation and moving. He has started to carry around one of his old baby blankets, which is odd, since he hadn't had any sort of "lovey" that he was attatched to previously...except Nana of course! He also had taken to being very ugly at bedtime. We aren't just talking about not going to sleep. It was anything to do with sleep! Bath time, books, bedtime snack. It was a fiasco that I dreaded every night. Noah has always had a bedtime routine, and it was cemented even more since Matt and I had moved in together. We give him a bath, bedtime snack, brush his teeth, then three books and its lights out. Well he would start throwing a tantrum, and we would end up wrestling him, while he kicked and screamed. We had been dealing with night time terror for about a month that included but was not limited to : punching, hitting, biting, kicking, slapping, and telling us that he didn't like us and that he hated us. Being concerned about all the voilent behaviors, I took him to our family doctor, who recommend we might need to sleep train again, and that he needs plenty of fresh air to combat the night time terrors. So far, it seems to be working. We walk to the park every day for about an hour and a half of play time outside. We have become a little more pateint with night time, and we have introduced a chore chart for Noah. Really it's just a calander that, if he helps me during the day, then he gets a sticker for that day. If he earns a sticker, he earns fifty cents. It helps him realize that he has to work to get goodies, and not just be given things hand over fist, and he loves to look at his accomplishments. Im hoping to have him enrolled for preschool this fall at our church, but we are still waiting to hear back from the cordinator on that one.

Matt is really nervous, but excited for baby. He is also excited to do some fire assignment down in Little Falls, since Effie doesn't see as much as Little Falls. We go down to my mom's house tomorrow for four weeks, or until the Baby Wap arrives. We had a few scares the past few weeks. Im no longer working, and haven't been for about two weeks. This past Monday, I started to feel strong contractions. They didn't really hurt, but took my breath away. They were coming every 3-4 mintues for a few hours, despite trying diffrent things to stop them. Off to the OB floor I went! They monitored me for about an hour, and after seeing that they were still coming regularly, they gave me a dose of Terb, which did nothing for me, except make me feel really jittery, shaky, and made me feel like I was having arrhythmias like crazy. In short, in made me feel worse. They also gave me 50 mg of a drug which I cannot recall the name of that was suppose to calm me down to counteract against the effects of Terb. It didn't really help, and the contractions still came. I was checked and was told that I was closed, but 50% effaced. Matt got to the hospital, and took Noah back to the house to wait for my mom, wash up, and to pack some stuff in case my labor was progressing and we would be sent down to the cities. Before my mom and Matt got back to the hospital I was given Ambien, and I dozed off until they both got there. I was pretty out of it though, so I don't remember much. At 2:30 a.m. my mom left, and Matt went to sleep in a bed they brought in. At 5:30 a.m. I woke up and went to the bathroom, and was told that I contracted on and off through out that night. After awhile we both got up, I took my meds, and was told that my OB was going to check me that morning when she had time. After awhile I saw my OB and was checked, and nothing had changed thankfully, so I was discharged, and was told though that if I felt 6 contractions in an hour to come back. It was a long night, and we all were exhausted.

That, in a nutshell, is what has happened in the past few weeks.

In March I had my 32 week ultrasound and biophysical profile done on the baby. He still has a ton of hair, and was weighing approximatly 4 lbs 11 oz. This could potentially make baby at around 9 lbs if I go to term! Baby Wap's head is measuring big at the time, at 36 weeks, his abdomen measuring at 34, and legs at 32. He was hiccuping, and moving like crazy, and sucked his hands and played with his feet. I just love being able to see that stuff! I can't wait until we get to hold him in our arms and take him home. We have the nursery compltely set up, and ready to go. The car seat is in the car, and Matt has opened everything up, set it up, and taken it down again to "test drive" it. ( Also on a side note, on Wednesday, I was called once an hour, every hour, while Matt was at work, to "check on me". I guess he was a little nervous...he told me he had cold clammy hands, and had "nervous pee" all day.)

Easter went well. We dyed eggs here in Grand Rapids on Saturday night, then on Sunday the Easter bunny came to our house. Noah found his basket full of goodies, and ate some candy. He was very excited because the bunny brought him also a bubble gun and AstroBoy. We then drove down to Little Falls to Nana and Papa's house, and cooked them up a big Easter dinner. It was also Nana and Papa's 24th Anniversary that day, and Papa drove home from Illinios( I think, it may have been Iowa) just for the day. We held an Easter egg hunt when Papa got there for Noah, who found all his eggs with Papa's help. We ate the big dinner that we( and by we, I mean mostly Matt. I made the Frog's Eyes Salad and that was about it) made for my parents and siblings. My aunt Cindy stopped by to say hello, and I talked to my grandma (or Old Nana, as Noah calls her)on the phone.

I love how Noah calls all the grandmas Nana something. My mom is Nana, Matt's mom is Nana Mary, my grandma Janet is Nana Jan, and my grandma Marilyn is Old Nana. Then there is Papa( my dad), and Papa Steve ( Matt's Dad). Both of my grandpas have passed away, one when I was five and the other when I was 20, and Noah was four months old. Im sad that he didn't get to meet these charismatic men that hold such a dear place in my heart, but I know they look down on us from above and watch out for us. Noah unfortunatley hasn't spent enough time with Matt's grandma Joy and grandpa Jon to call them anything yet, but Im sure he will call them Nana Joy and Papa Jon. Noah calls Matt's brother's Adam and Timmy, but Timmy comes out sounds like Tinney. Then there is ZaCH(my twin), Hey( my little sister Kaitlin), E( my little brother Ethan..E is actually is nickname from growing up, and we still call him that today.) and my older sister Saw( Sarah). He calls my friend Nelly, Nenny, and calls our dog Grover, Bro. He prounces Max and Ruby( Wuby), and says Sam pretty clearly. He calls Cleaveland, Chat. ( Instead of cat). I know that his speech is improving greatly, but I love how he calls our family and pets names. He recently loves telling us, " Your a good mom( or dad), or I yub you." He sings Bunge Bob Fairpants song ( Spongebob Squarepants) to us, which is only him saying Bunge Bob Fairpants over and over again in a tune that somewhat resembles the shows theme song. He also likes to tell us he wants to so something " Allllllll day!" Over all, I feel just Noah crazy lately. Like I just can't wait to hear what he comes up with next.

I guess that all I really have to say for now....hopefully next time I post, it's about Baby Wap's arrival! Let's hope I can stay on task and actually do it right away!