Noah - 4 Weeks

Noah was born 4 weeks ago yesterday. We don't go back to the doctor until next month so I don't know his current weight and height.

He still wears newborn sized clothes. His favorite thing to eat is milk - and lots of it! He gets about 75% breastmilk and 25% Enfamil Gentlease formula. Last night, we added a little bit of rice cereal to his nighttime bottle. He seemed to like the cereal and slept for 4.5 hours after that bottle. We'll try it again tonight.

Just last night his umbilical cord stump fell off. I went to change his diaper and noticed that it was off. His belly button was a little bloody, but not too bad. It's looking much better today. Now Emily and I can give him a tub bath!

I'm sad that I will have to go back to work in just a few short weeks. The last month of my maternity leave has already started. I try to think of each week in terms of how much Noah is growing, but I have to admit that the number of weeks until I go back to work sneaks into my mind too.

Tonight, Poppa came out to watch the OU football game with us. He's feeding Noah a bottle, which is the reason I get to write this blog post!

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Game Day

Now you didn't think I was really going to write about football, did you? If you know me, you know that I have no interest in football.

We have not done much today. We went to lunch at Chick-Fil-A and then went to the grocery store. We have to go there just about every week and "make our deposit." That's what it feels like anyway.

Other than that, we just cleaned around the house and worked on catching up on our chores. There is always SO much to do and it all has to be done between Noah's feedings every three hours.

I wanted to share a few pictures from last night. Emily wanted to hold Noah, but she was a little distracted watching the Brady Bunch on TV.

And then it normally ends up like this.

And Emily wanted to take a picture of me and Noah. But she cut off my head. And she cut off Noah's head too. Maybe we'll have better luck next time.

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Special Delivery

This morning I got a call from a local florist. The lady said that they had a delivery for me and were checking to make sure someone was home.

My first instinct was to say that they must have the wrong house. I don't think I've had a florist deliver anything to my house since I lived here. But I didn't say anything. If they want to bring me something, who am I to stop them?

Luckily, they got the right house and the right person.

Aren't they lovely?

The other preschool Sunday School teachers at our church sent them as a "congratulations on the birth of your baby and see you soon".

And to tell you the truth, I can't wait to get back to our Sunday School class. We got a new batch of three-year-olds since we have been out and I have not even gotten to see them yet. I've heard there is a whole lot of bathroom issues going on. Ha! I could skip that part. I have enough of that at my own house right now!

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Suited for Success

Okay so I have tried several times to take pictures of Noah in his new outfits. But he always does weird things with his eyes. These are the best ones I could get.

"Mommy's Little Tough Guy" - His first overalls!


This one says "Feed me or I'll snap!" and that was very fitting for today.

I tried out the Bumbo baby seat today too. This was the first picture and it just went down hill from there. I don't think he's old enough to appreciate it yet.

Noah has the baby sniffles today. His nose is just kinda stuffy and I have used the nasal aspirator on him several times. Fortunately, he has not figured out that he's supposed to hate that thing. Or maybe he just appreciates being able to breathe better.

This morning, we very much overslept. Noah woke up to eat at 2am and it took him a while to get soundly back to sleep. (See comment about sniffles above.) When I woke up at 6:30am, Emily was in our bed and I have no idea when she got there.

Printer That Won't Print

We've been having a problem with our printer for the last few months. When we turn it on, it gives an error message "An Error Has Occurred" and will not do anything else. I've been meaning to call about it since I have not been able to print a single picture of my new baby. Seriously, I do not have one single print of Noah. Not one.

So this afternoon after doing a bit of internet research, I called up the company's technical support line. I calmly explained the problem and all the steps I went through to try to diagnose the problem myself (with the help of the company's online FAQ). And the lady just offered to send me a replacement printer free of charge. And some new ink cartridges. Free of charge. Me thinks they have seen this problem at least a thousand times before.

She said they would send my replacement and I should receive it in 5-7 business days. But I said that I couldn't wait that long. (Thanks to my internet research, I learned that someone else tried this and the company shipped their printer overnight.)

So the representative offered to send my replacement printer overnight. Except that I'd already missed the cutoff today so it will be shipped tomorrow. Except that tomorrow is Friday and they don't delivery on the weekends. And except that Monday is a holiday so I should receive it on Tuesday. Okay fine. And my free ink cartridges will not be shipped overnight. Okay fine.

I have to ship the old printer back to them within 7 business days of receiving the replacement. That's fine. Saves me from having to dispose of a big old piece of worthless junk.

So by next Tuesday night, I'll be printing lots of pictures. And I can't wait!

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A Few More Pictures

Last night before Noah went to bed, I was able to get some pictures of him with his eyes open. He really is awake more and more during the day, but I'm usually holding him and talking to him during those times. It's hard to take pictures with him in my arms. But these were some pictures after he got his diaper changed.

One of these days, I am going to have to start putting him in all his newborn sized outfits and taking his picture on them. We have quite a few sleeveless or shorts outfits in newborn, but I feel like it's too cool in the house for him to wear some of those all day. Maybe I can just put him in them for short trips - like picking up Emily from school in the afternoons.

Speaking of Emily's school, she is selling Blue and Gold Sausage as a school fundraiser. This year, we're selling sausage, bacon, and chicken strips. If you want to order some, please let me know. Orders have to be turned in by September 10th and I think the products will be back I think on September 20th.

Still Connected

Noah's umbilical cord stump is still hanging on. The last time we went to the doctor, he said that it will fall off when it's good and ready to fall out. He said he has seen some babies that don't lose their cord stump until they are about 6 weeks of age. I am ready for Noah to lose the stump so that Emily and I can give him a bath in the baby bath tub. I am sure he will love it. (Love it so much that he'll scream and cry the whole time, I am sure.)

Clothes

I am going to have to start looking at Noah's clothes to see what outfits are newborn sized. We have a lot of sleeveless and shorts outfits in newborn size that he has not even worn yet. I think it is too cool in the house to wear an outfit like that all day. We might have to pull some out and wear them on quick outings - like when we go pick up Emily from school. I definitely need to get his picture in some of the cute summer outfits that he has before summer is gone.

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Mama's Day Away

Let me just start by saying that this post is most definitely mis-labeled. It was not a day away, but it was a few glorious hours away.

This morning, I dropped Emily off at school and then Noah and I came home for a quick nap before getting ready to head over to Nanny and Poppa's house to drop Noah off. All was well except that Noah woke up hungry. And while I was feeding him, he had a blowout. And it got all over my shirt. Not a fun way to start out my day away.

But better than nothing so we'll take it. I dropped Noah off and made it to my hair appointment on time (thankfully).

My hair stylist normally uses a straight iron when she styles my hair. But I asked her to style it without using it this time because I have literally NO time to fix my hair in the mornings. Most mornings, it's all I can do to get Noah fed and Emily to school on time.

She did a good job. When she was done, my hair looked smooth and shiny like she had used the flat iron. I don't know she did it, but I hope I can fix it half as good in the morning. Sorry, no before and after pics of the hair.

After I got out of my appointment, I had to drop back by the house before I went to pick up Noah. It felt great to be out and about by myself. I stopped by Sonic and got a diet coke on my way home. And after my cup was empty, I ate all the ice! And I listened to the radio really loud. And I drove fast - well, within the speed limit but I was on the interstate for a change so it was fast to me.

Here is a picture of Noah sleeping in his bouncer.

And Grandmother requested a picture of Noah when he was awake so I took a picture in his swing this evening. Look at his hair!

It was hard to get a good picture of him in his swing. Every time I would try to take a picture, his eyes would kinda bug out like this picture.

Emily took a picture of herself for you, but it was a shot straight up her nose so I thought I should keep that one to myself. We will try again tomorrow.

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Tidbits

Sorry about the lack of post last night. I was working on the Shirley Sherbert post, but Noah was having a fussy night. I even tried to type one handed, but then my laptop battery died. So I gave up! Ha!

I'm not sure if tonight will be much better. Noah has been eating about every two hours during the day today. He's been drinking bigger bottles and eating more often. I guess that means he's growing.

Tomorrow, I have an appointment to get my hair cut. So Noah gets to spend a little time with Nanny and Poppa. I am sure he will have a lot of fun and it will be nice to do something for myself for a change.

I wanted to share some pictures with you from our lunch on Sunday. I took a picture of Emily and a picture of Noah.

Here's the picture of Emily. She always gives me that fake smile.

Here's the picture of Noah. Check out those little arms!!! He had on a short sleeved shirt, but it looks like a muscle shirt the way it's pulled up to his shoulders.

And here's the picture of me and Noah. Don't see Noah? Me either. :)

Emily picked out this shirt for me to wear because it matched the one she picked out for herself. I think she did a good job matching us.

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Shirley Sherbert

This is Shirley Sherbert. She was a gift to Emily from her little brother on the day that he was born. Shirley is one of Build-A-Bear Workshop's new ice cream bears. If you recall, we took Emily to Build-A-Bear to pick out a pet for Noah before he was born. And he surprised her by picking out something too.

In case you were wondering, Mama and Daddy chose the name Shirley Sherbert.

Emily also got new curtains for her room last week. She had a pair of beige blackout curtains over her window. They were not too pleasing to the eye, but they did block a lot of light. I found these purple blackout curtains at Target last week and knew they would be perfect for Emily's room. During the day, they create sort of a purple glow in her room. But they work well at night. And they look much better than the beige curtains I would say.

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Another Day and Some Updates

Today, Mike was gone to an all day class. So I got to enjoy a day at home all to myself. With two kids, of course. Mike helped me with Noah's 5:30am feeding. Then we put Noah back to bed, Emily woke up and Mike let me sleep in until almost 8am. It was almost like a dream come true. I could have stayed in that bed much longer except that I wanted to get a shower before Mike left for his class.

The kids and I just hung around the house all day. Emily and I watched a little Brady Bunch, did some laundry, colored, and tended to baby. Then after a delicious lunch of peanut butter and jelly (you know, kids eat their food better if the parents are eating the same thing), Emily settled in for her nap. Noah was napping in his swing so I did the only reasonable thing to do - log in to work for a bit. I know - shame on me. But it's hard not knowing how things are going while I'm away.

Mike got home at around 5:15pm and he wanted to take me out to dinner as sort of a thank you for letting him go to the class today. We went to a local BBQ place and had a nice time. I LOVE asking for a table for four. While we were there, Mike's mom called and invited Emily to spend the night and go to Sunday School with them in the morning. But Emily didn't want to go. I think she has been missing spending time with her dad.

New, New, New

I mentioned the other day that Noah has been having some fussy evenings. On Friday, he was fussy between feedings all day and I noticed that he had not pooped that day. So when Mike got home from work, we went into town and picked up a new kind of formula. I had done some research online to find a formula that was lower in lactose and easier for babies to digest. I thought a lower lactose formula might be better because Mike apparently had some sort of milk sensitivity based on how much he sneezes after drinking milk or eating ice cream or cheese.

We settled on Enfamil Gentlease. It's supposed to have 1/5th the lactose of their regular formula. And it's formulated to be gentler on baby's tummy and help with gas and fussiness. I mixed a bottle for Noah last night when we got home and I immediately noticed that I had to shake it pretty vigorously to get the formula to mix well and not form clumps in the bottle. Even with the hard shaking, the bottle didn't get the foamy bubbles in it like the regular formula does. The bubbles just sort of dissolved.

During the night last night, Noah had two big poops. And today, he had about 5 large poops within one hour. It was a fun day on that front, but Noah does seem to be feeling much better. I have my happy, easy going baby back.

I also wanted to try a new pacifier. Noah does not normally take a pacifier very well and I was wondering if he didn't like the ones we had since they were not the same shape as the nipples he's accustomed to. So I bought a package of those Soothies pacifiers - the big round blue-green ones. He does seem to like those better, but he still does not seem to need a pacifier to be satisfied.

Mike also did some research and found a new kind of gas medicine. It's called Colic Care. It's supposed to be all natural, FDA regulated and taste great to babies. The package said that it helps with gas and fussiness in babies. It even helps cure hiccups. We did not end up using the Colic Care last night since the new formula seemed to be helping so much.

But this afternoon when Noah had he hiccups for the 4th time today, I thought I would try a little bit to see it if helped. So I opened the bottle and it was this thin black liquid. The directions said to use a dropper and put the medicine between baby's cheek and gums very slowly. I did this and the black liquid immediately came back out of his mouth and all over him. So I squeezed a tiny bit more. And again it came back out. And even though Noah swallowed virtually none of it, his hiccups immediately disappeared. Ha!

More Milk

On Thursday, I received my order of Motherlove More Milk herbal product that the lactation consultant recommended to increase my milk supply. I immediately went into the kitchen to take the first dose. I opened the bottle and poured the dose into a medicine cup and the smell was just horrible. The liquid was a dark brown, sorta like a cola color. And it smelled like funky maple syrup. So I drank it and GAG ME!!!!!! It was SO bad. I made Mike smell it later and he said it smelled like licorice. Yep, maple syrup and licorice and herbs. I have figured out that it's not so bad if I add some Pepsi (which I don't like) to it. At least it's a little fizzy going down.

And the verdict? So far, I have noticed no increase in my milk supply. Bummer. As bad as it tastes, I was hoping it would at least work. And if you happen to run into me and think I reek of maple syrup and licorice, then I apologize in advance. I guess it could be worse. I guess. If I don't see an increase by next week, I'll call my ob/gyn and see if she can call in a prescription for me - something that really works. And doesn't make me smell funny.

Perfect Lips And a Dimpled Chin?

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Three Then Four

Five years ago, we were very fortunate to become a family of three. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember being anxious about how things were going to go. I remember feeling sick and disoriented (thanks to some of the drugs I was given during my induction). I remember being so scared when they said I would have an emergency cesarean section. I remember feeling so emotional (and crying) and excited and blessed when Miss Emily was born. I remember the doctor saying "She's so tiny!" and being surprised by this.

Here's a picture of our family of three from five years ago. Mike put this very picture on our refrigerator a couple years ago and it's still there today. Even though the picture is terrible (actually, the picture is fine - I just really looked like that), I still love my family.

And this year we grew to be a family of four. Even though Noah was born a short three weeks ago, I also remember this day like it was yesterday. I remember being SO nervous although I pretty much knew how things would go. I remember feeling emotional the entire time I was at the hospital before my surgery and worrying about being strong for Emily so that she would not be scared. I remember willing myself not to cry as they were wheeling me down the hall to the operating room.

I remember the trouble with the spinal anesthesia (ouch!). I remember crying as soon as I saw Mike in the operating room. And crying when Noah was born and the doctor said "He's so little!" I remember seeing the look on Emily's face when she first saw her brother when the nurses stopped my bed beside the family on the way back to the recovery room. I remember feeling so thrilled and blessed and thankful when I finally had my family of four that I had been praying for so long.

And here's our first picture as a family of four.

We ARE blessed.

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My Sanity Savers

Tomorrow marks three weeks since Noah's birth. I think we are doing well and adapting to our new normal. We are all working together to make things work.

But there are a few things that have been real sanity savers for me. Here are a few of them:

1. Lots of bottles - Right now, I'm almost exclusively pumping breastmilk for Noah and supplementing with formula when necessary. At many feedings, I fix two separate bottles so that I can make sure Noah gets all the breastmilk that I have and then anything else he needs is formula. I think we have 8 or 10 bottles that I rotate throughout the day. (I use the Playtex bottles with the disposable liners.)

2. A dishpan full of soapy water - I'm constantly washing baby dishes including bottles, nipples, and pump parts. I just pile all these dishes in the soapy water and wash them in batches throughout the day.

3. Hand Lotion - Seriously, dishpan hands. And I have several bottles of lotion all around the house that I can use as needed.

4. A full water bottle - I use the 32 oz mug that I got in the hospital. I fill it up with ice and water at the beginning of the day and drink as much as I can all day.

5. My washer and dryer - Babies create a lot of laundry. I probably do a load of Noah's laundry every other day or so. I also use stain remover to immediately spray down clothes, bibs, and anything else that gets spit up or formula on it. Sadly, the timer on my dryer is messed up right now and so I have to be very attentive to the dryer and make sure I don't dry anything to a crisp.

6. Dry Erase Board - When I first got home from the hospital, we used the dry erase board to keep track of when Noah ate last and when I last took my medication. This was my mom's idea, but it worked great. I was having a hard time keeping up with everything.

7. A fully stocked pantry and freezer - I cooked and froze a few things during the last several weeks of my pregnancy. My mom brought a few things she had fixed and frozen for us. And then she stocked our pantry with quick and easy dinners. I have been fixing things from the freezer and pantry for dinner since we got home. And eating leftovers for lunch.

8. My Cell Phone - I like to read on my cell phone while I'm feeding Noah - especially at night, it helps me stay awake. I read several blogs, Facebook and a lot of news sites. Really, I'll read almost anything that changes frequently.

Noah has been having some fussy time in the evenings this week. From about 5pm until around 9pm, he fusses and acts like he wants to eat every hour or so. Sometimes he'll go to sleep for a little bit, but then wakes back up again and wants to eat. I can't imagine he's really that hungry. I mean he eats all day. Maybe he's having gas or other tummy issues?

My back has been hurting. I think my abdominal muscles are still fairly weak from my surgery. With all the bending and moving that I do during the day and night, it's just sore by the end of the day.

Sorry for the lack of pics tonight. I wanted to put up a couple pics, but I could not find one of the ones I wanted. Mom, Heather - Do one of you have the picture of us as a family of four that was taken in the hospital? If so, can you email it to me?? Love ya'll very much.

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Cupcakes

Today at school, Emily was the line leader for her class. The class pets (frogs) also came to stay today. She said their names were Frogger and Beatrice. She also said their names were Mayo and Mustard. I'm not sure which is true.

After school, Emily and I made some cupcakes. I wanted to do something special with her because we just don't get to do many things by ourselves right now.

So we made 24 devils food cupcakes. Some had buttercreme icing and some of them had chocolate icing. But I didn't get any pictures of them after they came out of the oven and got iced. But they sure were tasty!

And while we baked, Noah helped. From his comfy carseat.

Isn't he just adorable? Of course, he didn't sleep for long. He's been waking up every hour or so and screaming for more milk. Maybe another growth spurt? Or maybe just one of those days?

After supper and after Emily cleaned up her room, we went outside to play for a few minutes. It has been so much cooler the last couple days that I thought it would be a fun time. But Noah didn't really agree. I don't know if he was too cool or what, but he was a bit fussy while we were out there.

So back inside we went where Emily watched another episode of the Brady Bunch before bed.

It was a busy afternoon, but we always have a good time together. Now if I could just get some more rest tonight, I would be in good shape. Noah has been waking up at around midnight and again around 3am. I'm up for about an hour each time so that does not leave much time for sleep at night.

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Rain and Cooler Temps

This morning brought rain and cooler temps to our area. Unfortunately, it brought A LOT of rain and heavy rain at that. I was really concerned about how to get Emily into school while keeping her and Noah as dry as possible.

When I told Emily that it was raining, she went and put on her jacket and a pair of black gloves with pearls on them. And she grabbed a bath towel, her baby doll plus some extra clothes for her and several other things. All that along with her backpack and lunchbox was almost more than she could carry. I told her that she was not going to be able to carry all that out to the car with her.

When we got ready to go out to the car, I put a blanket over Noah's carseat and grabbed his diaper bag. Emily wore her jacket and took her backpack and lunchbox and her doll. But she didn't want to go out into the rain. I was trying to carry all my stuff and close the door and every time I turned around I kept bumping into her. Argh! By the time we made it to the car, I was soaking wet.

The rain had let up a little bit by the time we got to the school. Today was supposed to be Emily's snack day, show 'n tell and line leader day. But the teacher said that they had a new student and a birthday so the days got switched. Emily got to do her show 'n tell today since she brought it, but her snack day and line leader day will be tomorrow.

When Noah and I got home, we ate breakfast and then took a long morning nap. We went to sleep around 9am and woke up at about noon. That was a good nap and much needed by both Mama and Noah. I'd say that was the highlight of our day.

Here are a few pictures of Emily and Noah from yesterday. This is before we left for school.

See how nice and neat Emily looks before school?

She looks nothing like that when she gets home. I wish I had an "after" picture.

But she is still a beautiful girl. She just plays really hard at school.

And here's a picture of little man today when he was swinging in his swing. He's using Emily's old swing. I'm glad we saved it!

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Water, Water Everywhere

Last week, we had a plumber come out to check out a leak that was causing water to accumulate outside our house. We thought this leak was coming from the kids bathroom, most likely the bathtub.

The plumber checked it out and found out that the water accumulating outside the house was actually from the air conditioner unit. He dug around and found a condensation pipe that was the source of the water.

So, help! What do we do to get rid of all this water? How do we keep it from coming back? He said something about getting a can for it to drain into, but I don't know.

The white pipe in the middle of the screen is what I'm talking about.

Do you see the frog under the water on the left side of this picture? And I have no idea what that thing is right beside the white pipe. Maybe a dead mouse????

So tell me what you think. Plumbing and heat & air is SO not my thing!

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Lactation Consultation

This morning after I dropped Emily off at school, Noah and I went to the hospital for our lactation consultation. Noah weighed 6lbs 9oz today. That means he's gained 5 ounces since we were at the doctor's office last week. This is perfect!

After watching Noah nurse, she said that he was doing a great job. He just has a hard time controlling his tongue (just like his big sister?) Sometimes his tongue pushes things out of his mouth when he doesn't want it to. It's just something that will get easier for him as he gets older and his muscles get stronger. The doctor mentioned this a couple weeks ago too in relation to his pacifier. By the time he's about 6 weeks old, he'll be a lot better at controlling his pacifier.

As far as my milk supply goes, she said that it's true that he has been eating more than I'm producing but it's not really too bad at this point. She said it could be because he's taking so long to eat that my milk does not have enough time to build back up between feedings. She gave me some information on an herbal supplement that I can try to increase my milk supply.

I tried a fenugreek supplement when Emily was a baby, but I didn't think it helped much. I'm hopeful that this new formula will work better, but I don't want to get my hopes up. If it does not work, I may be able to get a prescription for Reglan from my doctor. That did work with Emily, but I only took it for about a week.

Either way, I'll give Noah as much milk as I have. Every little bit will help him grow.

Other than our appointment today, we did not do much else. Noah and I got home at about 1:30pm and then had to pick up Emily from school between 2:45 and 2:55pm. I didn't get to talk to Emily's teacher this afternoon, but I hope to be able to tomorrow. I like to be able to speak with her whenever I can and see how things are running in Emily's class. This is a special time while I'm off work and able to do this so I really want to make the most of it.

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By The Numbers

I'm sorry my blog posts have been so wordy lately. After I put up a new post, I always let Mike know so that he can read it. I am always amazed that it takes me so long to write it, but it takes him only a minute or two to read it. And I usually think of a thing or three that I forget to say every time I post.

Tonight I thought I would attempt to be brief (for my sake and yours!)

So, By the Numbers ...

Sleeping

6 - Noah slept over 6 hours straight last night, from 9:30pm to 4:00am. When Mike woke up at 7:30am, he woke me up and asked if Noah ever woke up during the night. This reminds me to never leave my kids with Mike at night if he's planning to be asleep at all.

2 - Newly purchased swaddle blankets to match the swaddle blanket that I used last night and may have contributed to Noah's longer sleep time.

Feeding

2 - Ounces of breastmilk + 1 ounce of formula = 3 hours on average between feedings.

3 - Ounces of formula + 0 ounces of breastmilk = a huge spitup for Noah. Not a good idea.

Entertainment

71 - Brady Bunch re-runs that Emily likes to watch = Lots of Laughter at our house.

2 - Brady Bunch songs on CD in the car, repeat repeatedly.

6 or 7 - George Strait songs, for the kids of course.

School

20 - Snacks for the Kindergarten class on Tuesday.

1 - Show and Tell Item for Tuesday (possibly, a pink laptop computer).

1 - Line leader for the day named Emily, also Tuesday.

1 - B.E.E notebook (Bring Everything Everyday) that will contain daily papers and notes from the teacher.

1 - Pair of new Skecher shoes for school.

5 - New fall outfits, Thank you Nanny!

Mama

16 - Days Postpartum.

5 - Pounds below pre-pregnancy weight, and still dropping.

1 - Sore incision line, especially first thing in the morning and at the end of each day.

1 - Ring finger that started hurting on Friday. Still swollen yesterday, but back to normal today. Still no idea what caused it to hurt.

1 - Blessed lady. So thankful for my sweet family.

Family Day

4 - Wonderful family members.

10 - People met us for lunch at Outback Steakhouse today.

2 - Kids to Nanny's house while Mom and Dad tackled Wal-mart. Thanks, Nanny!

100 - Dollars spent although we only had a few things on our list. Why does this always happen?

4 - More episodes of Brady Bunch.

3 - Loads of laundry.

1 - Delicious dinner.

1 - Easy bedtime for Emily (We love to see that improvement!)

1 - Early morning tomorrow and a busy day.

Good Night!

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Rewards

After our difficult day at home last Monday, Mike told Emily that he would buy her a whole banana split all to herself if she would listen to Mama and be a good helper the rest of the week.

On a side note - You might remember that we have our behavior chart on a dry erase board in the kitchen. Someone came to visit us this week and commented on all the red X's that Emily had beside her name on Monday. It was really a hard day.

Since school started on Thursday, she also had to follow the rules at school and not get her color moved in order to claim her reward. They use a "light" discipline system in her class this year. If she stays on green, then she is displaying good behavior. If she gets moved to yellow or red, then she's not following the rules and doing the right thing. They used a similar system last year in Pre-K and she never got moved off of green. We are expecting the same thing this year.

And true to form, Emily was much better the rest of the week. She earned her allowance every day this week besides Monday and she didn't get moved off green at school.

So this evening, we took Emily to Braums for her banana split. I fully intended to take pictures of the dish before she started eating it, but it was already starting to melt and make a mess so I just let her dig in.

Her Dad had a great idea and gave her a straw to use to drink up some of the melted stuff. That worked a lot better than the spoon. And she eventually found the banana at the bottom of the dish. She enjoyed her banana split very much. You can tell because she has chocolate all over her face! She even shared a bit with Mama and Daddy.

Tonight, Emily is spending the night with Nanny and Poppa so that she can go to Sunday School with them in the morning. We had been talking this up all week in hopes that she would agree to spend the night. And this morning, she confirmed that she would. But she made sure I knew that "she would come home tomorrow." And she kept telling me that she would miss me. I miss her too!

And you know this little cutie misses her too. He was napping in his pack 'n play this afternoon and I caught him sleeping with his hand behind his head. When I nap in my recliner, I sometimes put my hand behind my head like that too.

He wore a dinosaur onesie with some navy pants this afternoon. He looked like such a big boy wearing a shirt and pants instead of a stretchie/sleeper. He's been wearing a knit hat when he sleeps at night and I think that's so cute too. He's pretty good at leaving it on his head. Now if we could just get him to leave his socks on ...

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Twos

Two Weeks

This morning, Mike and I took Noah to his two-week doctor's appointment. Noah weighed 6lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long. His weight, height and head circumference were all in the 5-10th percentile on the growth chart.

I told Dr. K that my milk supply has not been able to keep up with Noah's needs in the last few days and I asked him if he thought it would benefit us to spend some time with a lactation consultant. He said he thought it would be worth our time because any breast milk that Noah gets is better than none. If he gets 30% breast milk, then that's 30% benefit.

When the hospital called to schedule our appointment, I tried to get one with the lactation consultant that we saw in the hospital but she only works on the weekends and the weekend ladies only see in-patients. I hope whoever we see next week is as good as the one who helped us in the hospital.

Two Days

Today was also Emily's second day of Kindergarten. When I dropped her off this morning, she gave her teacher another hug. She came home this afternoon and said that she had a good day. She brought home two pictures that she had drawn and they were both pictures of Emily, Noah, Mama and Daddy. And they both said LOVE. I guess she does think about us during the day.

This evening, I noticed that Emily's lunch box already has a rip in the back of it. I have no idea how that happened within the first two days of school. I guess these companies just don't make quality products any more. How sad.

We'll have to figure out our morning schedule for next week when Mike is back at work. Newborns can have such unpredictable schedules. It will be hard to make sure Noah is satisfied before we have to leave for school. He can be such a slow eater. This could be a problem if we're pressed for time.

Two Wonderful Children

And look at those perfectly kissable cheeks!

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Kindergarten Begins

So today was Emily's first day of Kindergarten. It's hard to believe that I have a child old enough to be in Kindergarten now.

We prepared as much as we could last night before we went to bed. Emily picked her first day outfit (with a bit of guidance from Mom) and we discussed options for our lunch box. We did anything we could think of to help the first morning go smoothly.

Thankfully, Daddy was home to help us this morning. He fixed breakfast for Emily and helped her with her clothes.

Even though Noah's schedule was not the best, we were able to make it to school on time. Emily was a bit hesitant when we got to her classroom. I was a little worried about her, but then she went up to her teacher and gave her a big hug. Mrs. B said "Thank you, that's just what I needed this morning!" And I knew the would be fast friends.

I think it was just a bit of first day jitters combined with the fact that she really enjoys staying home with mom and baby brother. When we were getting ready to leave, her dad gave her the I Love You sign and she made sort of a sad face. But when we went to pick her up, she said "Mama, I love Kindergarten."

Here are some pictures of Emily on her first day of Kindergarten. I don't know why I didn't think to have her put on her backpack. That would have been perfect.

And, seriously, I did not know her hair looked this bad close up. I swear I had my contact lenses in when I fixed her hair this morning. She is still a beautiful girl though! (Aunt Heather, check out her shoe choice! We need to go shoe shopping this weekend so that we won't get the silver sparkle shoes messed up at school.)

This afternoon, we had a visit from Aunt Charlene, Kim, Brynlee and Sarah. They stopped by to love on baby Noah a little bit. Kim, it was great to see you! It was nice to be able to chat with someone who's been in a similar situation. Can't wait until the next time you come to visit.

Tomorrow is the second day of Kindergarten and Noah has his two-week doctor's appointment in the morning. It's going to make our schedule even more difficult, but we'll make it work somehow. I am very glad that Mike is going to be home with us again tomorrow. It just makes things run so much smoother when he's here.

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Last Day Before School Starts

Today was the last day at home before school starts for the year. Emily and I had some things to do to get ready for school. We had to fill out all the forms that we picked up at Meet the Teacher Night and we had to write her name on all her school supplies. I am STILL working on sharpening all the pencils. To tell you the truth, I'm lucky I could even find a pencil sharpener! Too bad it still doesn't work very well.

Noah has had a good day today. He has been eating allll day long though. I have figured out that he'll be happy if I feed him enough. I just hope I can keep up with him!

This morning, I wanted to take Emily's picture with Noah.

And she wanted to take my picture with Noah. 'Scuse the face. I did get my shower before this, but that was about it.

And then she wanted to take a bunch of pictures of Noah while I pumped. And I do mean a bunch. She took about 35 pictures today I think.

She wanted to make sure she got a picture of his feet. I think she did a pretty good job all things considered.

So tomorrow we'll have to get up bright and early and be ready to go to school by 8am. I don't know how that's going to work with Noah's unpredictable schedule. We'll just have to do the best we can.

Thankfully, Mike has taken off work tomorrow for the first day of school and on Friday for Noah's two-week doctor's appointment. It will be very nice to have some reinforcements around the house during the day. Maybe I will actually get a nap! Wouldn't that be nice?

Hmmm ... that's a wonderful thought.

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