Who does Noah look more like?

I found these when I was unpacking some boxes yesterday:

Christian
NoahAnnie

R.I.P. TV

As of Sunday evening, Mr. Phillips 27" is no longer with us. He is survived by Christian, who is taking the loss pretty hard (it's football season after all), and Annie, who is mourning the loss of Stacey and Clinton and the rest of the What Not to Wear gang, Earl, Michael Scott and company, the Duggar clan, and the Russo family (yes, that is the family from Wizards of Waverly Place for those of you brave enough to admit that you LOVE that show like I do). The loss is especially trying considering that date night with an infant = Red Box movie + microwave popcorn.

Maybe life without TV won't be so bad though. I've already noticed an increase in my reading and a decrease in time wasted looking for the remote. But, good thing or not, such is our life...at least until our tax return arrives and hopefully grants us a Mr. Phillips jr. (or, better yet, a TV that is no relation to Mr. Phillips, considering that he died after only 5 years).

Halloween Weekend

Friday Night: Halloween party with some of our friends

The little giraffe on the way there:
At the party:
Saturday: Dinner and Halloween night at Kristy and Adam's
Sunday: Church And finish the weekend with some cuddling with Bear

Exciting Week!!

On Monday morning my good friend Andrea gave birth to her baby boy Jeremiah! Yay! Congratulations Eloy and Andrea!

On Monday night my good friend Kali gave birth to her baby boy Harper! Yay again! Congratulations Kali and Anthony!

On Tuesday we woke up to our first snow:
And today is my mom's birthday! Happy Birthday Mom!

Bear's new hangout

Cute.
But not when you're trying to brush your teeth.

Oh Cuddling

There's nothing sweeter or more cozy than snuggling a warm baby in your arms.

In Noah's case, he's the wiggliest baby I've ever met.

Since he was born he'd rather lift his head and check out the world than rest it on your shoulder.

He prefers being held upright so he can see everything to being cradled like a baby.

Dangling legs?...not around here. If they're not busy kicking, they're bouncing or planted on the nearest surface so he can stand himself up.

Even when he's nursing, he's usually moving his little arms and kicking his little legs.



All this wiggling is cute as can be, but it also makes me really appreciate the moments when he does cuddle up and melt into me.

Moments like this...when he's asleep.

One is enough...for now

The mothers' lounge in our church building consists of a rocking chair and changing table in the corner of the women's bathroom separated from the rest of the room by a sliding curtain.

Today while I was breastfeeding Noah during sacrament meeting, I heard small footsteps enter the restroom. Next thing I knew the curtain was flung open and a little girl (probably about 4 or 5 years old) stood there staring at me for a moment before asking:

"What are you doing?"
me: "Breastfeeding my baby."
girl: "Oh. I wonder why there's a curtain here?"

At this point she left me to use the bathroom, but then returned and said:

"I saw your two girls in the hall."
me: "I don't have any girls. This is my only baby."
girl: "He's your only baby? Oh. Well, you can't have just one baby. If my mom had just one baby, I wouldn't of come out yet."

True. Although during some moments of my labor I thought to myself that Noah would have to be an only child, I can say now that I agree with this girl. I would love to meet the other little spirits who are waiting to come out and join our family, but not quite yet. We're loving our time with Noah; he is such a joy, so one is enough...for now anyway.

9 Things I learned at craft day

I learned...

1. That you stand out as a "non-crafter" when you arrive to craft day in nice clothes (oblivious to the fact that there will be paint and other sticky liquids involved).

2. That the cute decoration you signed up for weeks in advance is NOT what you're greeted with when you arrive. [Apparently it's your responsibility to make bare chunks of wood resemble the adorable sample that lured you to sign up in the first place...who knew?!]

3. That there are over 17 billion different prints of scrapbook paper [which makes choosing 10 small pieces extremely difficult.]

4. What Modge Podge is and how to use it.

5. That it takes at least 6 other women to keep me from ruining my own project.

6. That Noah likes to flirt with the ladies at church and that he can poo through 2 outfits in under 2 hours.

7. That this whole crafting business is much harder than it looks (if you're crafty, I'm impressed!)

8. That signing up for just one craft is about as ambitious as I should ever be [considering that I spent longer on my one project than other ladies spent on half a dozen.]

9. And finally, that it took me 5.5 hours (aka WAY TOO LONG) to make this:
But, despite all the painting, sanding, cutting, picking, sticking, modge-podging, and hot-gluing, we had a fun day! So I can "give thanks" for that [and for the gals without whom my project would have been doomed!]

Inauguration

On Tuesday, LDSBC (where Christian goes to school) inaugurated their new president. The ceremony was awesome! Elder Eyring and Elder Nelson spoke and Elder Ballard and Julie B. Beck gave the prayers! We sat in the back row just in case Noah fussed (which he did), and I sat on the aisle seat, which means that all the apostles walked right past me when they came in!

The men at the door weren't sure if they were supposed to let babies in, but they let Noah in anyhow...thank goodness! I promised he'd be good, and he was...for most of it at least. He woke up toward the end of Elder Eyring's talk and decided he'd do a little "talking" of his own. The building is pretty small, so I'm pretty sure Elder Eyring must have heard! Needless to say Noah and I waited outside for the rest of the event, but it was such an amazing experience anyway! The spirit was so strong there!

Assembly Hall where the ceremony took place:

The inauguration wasn't until the afternoon, so while we waited for Christian to get out of class, Noah and I walked to Temple Square and hung out all morning. We got there before most of the buildings opened, so, other than a few gardeners, we were the only ones around. It was so beautiful and peaceful!Great day

BYU Football Game

Some friends of ours from Stockton were in town for General Conference weekend and invited us to go to the BYU game with them on Friday night. We met up with the Harvey's and Doug and Tai Phipps for pizza and then walked to the game. Christian (the biggest football fan EVER!) was so excited, especially since this would be Noah's first football game! Only 2-and-a-half-months-old and already been to his first game...not bad!

I was paranoid about Noah being too cold, so I brought along most of his wardrobe just in case. I ended up dressing him in:

A onesie (or is it onesy?)
Footy pajamas over the onesie
Socks over the footies
A nightgown with mittens over the PJ's
A hat
And a fleece hoody sweatshirt to top it off
Then, when it got a little colder, I wrapped him in not one, but two fuzzy blankets. Noah was definitely NOT cold, but I think people could tell that we weren't from around here. Coming from California I'm just not used to seeing high's in the 40's on the second day of October!

But at least the extra warmth helped him sleep good! He fell asleep sometime toward the end of the 1st quarter and was out for the rest of the game!
We had a blast, and the Cougars won! (Sorry Nikki and Sheldon...your Aggies got smoked :(

Uncle Shaun's visit

Christian's best buddy Shaun came to visit for a couple days on his way from New Jersey to California. Christian was totally stoked, and we all had a great time! On Monday we hung out in downtown Salt Lake and ate at Tucano's (Christian's favorite!), and yesterday we went to Gardner Village. It was all decked out for Halloween and so much fun!

Noah was all smiley on the car ride to Gardner Village (which is SO unlike him...he normally HATES the car)! It only lasted 20 minutes before he was back to his usual screaming self, but it was a nice treat nonetheless!There were life-sized witches everywhere, like this one flying a bicycle in the background:

Shaun got Christian this sweet 'stache at the candy store...hope it doesn't give him any ideas about growing a real one!

Halloween Costumes

FYI to moms: If you have a baby (or will have one by Halloween =), Wal-Mart has some really cute baby costumes for just $8.00, which is the cheapest I've seen so far. They're fuzzy and zip-up and made of softer fabric than a lot of more expensive costumes I've seen. They have lots of options like frog, tiger, Mickey Mouse, Pooh, flower, and more! Christian picked out this cute giraffe for Noah. I couldn't find them online, so you'll just have to check the baby section of your Wal-Mart if you're interested.
Happy Halloween!

Fall is here!

Today is the official 1st day of Fall, and we are stoked around here! It's our favorite season! Bye-bye uncomfortable, sweaty summer...hello crisp, cool fall!

Yesterday the high was 65! That's right - 65! I wore long sleeves and Noah had to wear a sweatshirt! It was fabulous!

Good Morning!

Monday morning 8am

Who needs an alarm clock when you've got one of these?
Noah wakes up every morning at 6am. Since I am NOT a morning person, I feed him and snuggle him back to sleep until he wakes up some time around 8am looking like this.

Belly Button?

Whoever decided to call the navel a "belly BUTTON" must have had an outie. Mine's an innie and trust me, it's no button at all. If anything, it's more of a belly hole, so I've always considered the term "belly button" to be quite a misnomer (at least for the innies among us). But I suppose "belly hole" doesn't have quite the same ring to it as belly button does (it sounds kind of gross actually). So I guess belly button will have to do.

But I will say this, it makes a lot more sense when you're referring to something as cute as this:

A Boy and his Cat

Our cat Bear loves Noah.
I discovered this one night when I woke up to find Bear spooning Noah in bed. They were both sleeping peacefully, but it scared me because Bear is not so good at cuddling with his claws in. So, unfortunately I had to banish Bear from the bedroom, but he still hangs out with Noah whenever he gets a chance.

Wherever Noah is, Bear is sure to be nearby:

"If Nothing Ever Changed, There'd Be No Butterflies"

I came across this quote on some vinyl wall stickers at the store yesterday. Of all the quotes they had for sale, this one stuck out to me most (probably because my life has undergone so many changes lately).

Since May I've:

-Graduated from pharmacy school, which means that I'm no longer a student for the first time since preschool.

-Become a mother to an adorable baby boy who has stolen my heart forever.

-Joined the ranks of women everywhere who are armed with childbirth stories to share with unsuspecting pregnant women.

-Traded a lovable baby bump for stretch marks and what my big sister Liz calls my "mom body" (she assures me that looking 5 months pregnant for a while is totally normal...bummer!)

-And, most recently, Christian, Noah and I moved to Utah, making this the first time I've ever lived outside of California and the first time I've lived farther than 45 minutes from my parents and the home where I grew up.

It's beautiful here, and we love it so far; although I miss my family and friends a lot. It's hard to be sad, though, when you wake up to a big toothless baby grin each morning! Besides, home is where you make it, so for now our home is here. Changes are not always easy, but that's how we grow!

3 years ago I was a single college student.
2 years ago - a giddy newly-wed.
1 year ago - a not-quite-so-newly-wed yearning to make our twosome a threesome.
And now I'm a mom with a sweet little butterfly of my own!