A Few Pics

I love this outfit with the matching hat. Noah isn't quite sure what to think about it...

Folding his arms! Such a reverent little baby!

His Halloween costume, he is going to be a dinosaur!

I will post more Halloween pictures a little later on, we just tried this on for size and I snapped a couple of quick ones on my phone. He looks so cute in it though!

3 Months!

Well, Noah is officially 3 months old! I can't believe how fast that went! Some ways it feels like I have always been doing the mom thing, but in other ways it's still very new! Noah is a joy to have around, he is a very happy-go-lucky baby and has been a blessing to have in our lives. He is sitting on my lap watching me type this, so I apologize for any spelling errors! Here are a few things that Noah can do:

*He can roll over from his tummy to his back. He did it for the first time right on his two month mark. He loves to lay on his tummy and look at you, and then will roll over and still looks a little confused when he does so!

*He can hold on to little plastic baby rings and loves to chew on them. He is getting a lot better at grasping things now and he loves to hold onto shirt sleeves and collars when he is being held.

*He loves to smile! It doesn't take much to get a smile out of him. He smiles all the time, all through his bath, all through getting changed, and sometimes when he is eating he will stop every few minutes to give me a big grin, and then will continue eating. It's so cute!

*He loves his bath and has figured out how to splash around. He will kick and move his arms and then coo really loudly.

*He is quite talkative. He makes lots of cooing and squeaking noises when you talk to him. He loves to tell stories and talk back to you!

*He is sleeping through the night! He started sleeping from 10:30-7:00 or 7:30 right at 9 weeks, and that has been lovely! He is starting to go a little longer at night now too, I don't think it will be long before I can drop his late night feeding altogether. He does wake up at about 5 every morning and fusses for a bit, and then lays in there and plays around for about an hour before falling back asleep, so mommy isn't sleeping through the night yet... :)

*He really knows my voice. I can be out of his vision and say something and he will turn his head to find me, usually giving me a smile when he does. Same goes for Ben, he really knows and loves his daddy! If someone else is holding Noah, and he hears one of us talking, he will try to find us.

*He goes to other people really well, not much stranger danger so far! He is content to be passed around, which is a good thing! He doesn't mind it as long as they hold him so that he can see, he doesn't like to be held on his back very much but prefers to be up and looking around.

*He is a very observant baby, and has been since day one. He likes to cuddle with me, but that's about it. Usually he likes to be held up and he likes to observe everything going on in the world. He is very content to sit in his swing, or the boppy pillow, and just watch everything. He also likes to lay on his back on our bed and watch the ceiling fan turn.

*He has always had a really strong neck, since the moment he was born. After they placed him on my chest when he was delivered, he lifted up his head to look and me and Ben! His head is still strong, and he has really good control of it. It doesn't flop around at all, he is very steady with his head. He loves his tummy time, and will hold his head up for as long as 30 minutes before laying it down for a rest.

*He naps pretty well overall, we still have some naps where he cries for a bit before settling in, but more and more he goes down for naps without a peep which is great. He still likes to sleep cuddled up next to the blanket my sister made for him.

*He loves mirrors. I got a baby gym for him that is an arch that has toys dangling down that he can play with and it has a mirror on the top that he can see himself in and he LOVES that! He will lay and talk to the baby in the mirror forever. It's adorable to see him smiling and cooing at himself! We call the toy his "baby friend".

*He also loves music. His baby gym has four big piano keys at the bottom of the mat that he can kick with his feet and they play music, and he loves it. He will get really into the music and kick his feet like crazy! Also, if we sing a song to him (especially when we are holding him) and the song ends, he will bob his head to get us to do it again. He also likes to squirm and dance to music.

*Noah has very strong legs. He likes to stand up and hold his own weight, and he will "step" with his feet. He also does a little scoot thing that is so freaking cute! He will lay on his back and I (or Ben, who discovered this trick) will hold in feet and ankles. We will place his feet flat on the ground with his legs bent and say, "Go!" and he will push off and straighten his legs, which scoots his body across the floor! He will go around our whole house like that, scooting around and grinning like crazy. I think he likes the mobility. I am sure I will have a very active toddler on my hands before too long!

*At his two month appointment he was 12 lbs exactly and 22 1/2 inches long. I am pretty sure that in the past month he has grown a LOT more than that though! We are now in all 3 or 3-6 month clothes, and have been for a couple of weeks now. He is a growing boy with a good appetite!

A birthday and a blessing!

I have been a little neglectful of my blog as of late. It's been busy! We had Noah's baby blessing on Sunday, and he looked adorable! We blessed him in our ward and then had a luncheon at my parents house afterwards. I forgot to charge the camera beforehand, however, so all of our pictures are on my mom's camera! So, pictures will follow later. Ben did a fantastic job with the blessing, and Noah was a great baby and slept through the whole thing! He little blessing outfit looked great on him, and he waited to poop through his diaper and get it all over his pants until after the guests had all left the luncheon! :) What a good boy... We had a nice luncheon of homemade soups and rolls, with lots of cookies and cakes for dessert. Since Ben's 29th birthday was the day before the blessing, I surprised him with having everyone sing Happy Birthday to him! About 50 people total-which is WAY more attention than Ben will ever be comfortable with! But, I thought it was too good of an opportunity to pass up since I will never get to plan a big party for him since he wouldn't like it! We had both of our families there plus several dear friends and their children. It was a lot of fun, I thought, to have them all there to celebrate his birthday as well as the blessing. He got a lot of great gifts too, mostly gift cards to various restaurants to give us some free dates, which is awesome! He had a great time, regardless of the "embarrassing" birthday song.

On his actual birthday we really didn't do much, I let him sleep in until about 11 in the morning, and then we just had a lazy day at home, which was great. It was actually just what he wanted for his birthday so that's what he got! That night we were going to go out to dinner, but it just didn't work out, so Ben brought dinner to us! We ordered Texas Roadhouse take out, put the baby to bed, and had a little feast while we watched a movie! It was a lot of fun and reminded me of our first Valentine's Day when we had a candlelit picnic on the floor consisting of deli food from the grocery store since we were poor and had moved into our apartment the day before! We had a blast, and I think he enjoyed his nice lazy day off from work, school, and everything else!

Smile!

I love my little boy, and I love to make him smile!

Impromptu Photo Shoot

These pictures were taken by my awesome sister-in-law, Kayla. She is a photographer extraordinaire and this photo shoot was done with black tablecloths and pillows on the floor of my mother-in-laws living room! We didn't plan to do pictures until Kayla suggested it right then and there, and these were all taken with a point and shoot camera! Thank you, Kayla! I think that these turned out great, Noah is just so cute! I love a few of his facial expressions, he is looking at us like, "What are you doing to me?" because Kayla, Grandma, and I are all talking and making noise and crawling all over the place to get smiles and to get him to look in the right direction. It was quite humorous...only babies can get adults to make such fools of themselves! :)

She even captured one of his smiles, this is an impressive feat since he seems to have "camera radar" and stops smiling as soon as I pull out our camera!

This face cracks me up. "What are you doing to me?"

This is his kiss-y face. The smaller his lips gets, the more I know he's going to poop his pants!

He's discovered his tongue and loves to play with it.

He actually really likes his tummy time, usually holding his head up for quite a long time!

This was another one of Kayla's great ideas, I think he looks so cute, and he didn't even pee on the tie or anything!

He doesn't like to be naked around other people, as you can tell from this facial expression... He's quite a modest little guy!

And, of course we have to have at least one naked baby shot! He DID pee all over during this part of the photo shoot...boys will be boys I guess! :)

2 Months!

Can I just say that I can't believe that my little boy is two months old already? WOW! That went so fast! When we were visiting Grandma Anderson yesterday, his Aunt Kayla helped us do an impromptu photo shoot, and we got some great pictures! I will get them posted on here soon, he did good for just suddenly being thrown on some pillows and black sheets with no warning! :) He was a good boy too and didn't cry at all, even when he sneezed so hard he rolled himself off the pillows! He is such a good natured baby, he almost always wakes up full of smiles and he loves to coo and talk to me when he does wake up. He sleep great at night, which I much appreciate, and he is just all around happy! He loves to lay stretched out on his back and just observe every detail going on around him. He still likes to be held, but he is perfectly content to just be on his own! He also loves to look in the mirror, he will coo forever to his "friend". I love that I can make him smile just by talking to him, and he still loves him bath, usually grinning the whole time. He is developing such a little personality, and I absolutely love being his mom!!!

50 Random Questions

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:00, unless you count 4:00 when I fed the baby…

2. How do you like your steak? On someone else’s plate. YUCK!

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Captain America. I LOVE movies!

4. What is your favorite TV show? I don’t really watch TV, sorry.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? In my house! I love being close to family. Lots of places I would visit, but I like living close.

6. What did you have for breakfast? Scrambled eggs with ham and cheese mixed in and a protein drink. YUM! I love breakfast food, and now that I stay at home, I actually eat it!

7. What is your favorite cuisine? Mexican, followed closely by Italian.

8. What foods do you dislike? Most red meats, asparagus (it stinks!)

9. Favorite Place to Eat? Los Hermanos!

10.Favorite dressing? Ranch, but I like lots of other dressings as well.

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? Chevy Malibu Classic

12.What are your favorite clothes? Do high heels count? I LOVE to wear high heels. Thank you ballroom dance past…

13.Where would you visit if you had the chance? Ireland, Egypt, Italy, and the Philippines

14.Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? Depends on what’s in it! J Just kidding, half full for sure

15.Where would you want to retire? Wherever my family is.

16.Favorite time of day? Around 8 or 9 at night because that’s when Ben gets home from school! I also love around 7 in the morning when Noah wakes up because he wakes up very happy and loves to smile and coo at me first thing in the morning and its so cute!

17.Where were you born? Orem, Utah

18.What is your favorite sport to watch? Basketball, but we mostly watch football in our house!

19.Who do you think will not tag you back? I'm not tagging anyone, so I don't think it counts.

20.Person you expect to tag you back first? Again - I'm not tagging anyone, so I don't think it counts.

21.Who are you most curious about their responses to this? Everyone, I love to read these about other people!

22.Bird watcher? Not really. I like hummingbirds…

23.Are you a morning person or a night person? Both. I can actually do either one really easily, I can get up just fine and I can stay up just fine. I guess I am a whatever person!

24.Pets? Not currently, hopefully not ever. I am SO not a pet person, and luckily Ben isn’t either. I am sure kids will probably change that one day though!

25.Any new and exciting news that you'd like to share? Not really, life is good!

26.What did you want to be when you were little? Honestly? I wanted to be a mom! I am living the dream!! J

27.What is your best childhood memory? I have lots of great childhood memories-girls nights with my mom when the boys were on Scout campouts, going on a daddy-daughter vacation to West Virginia, memorizing and then acting out Garfield comic books with my older brother, too many great things to choose from!

28.Are you a cat or dog person? Neither really, but probably more cat than dog. I like to look at dogs, as in-look at that person’s dog-but that’s about it whereas a cat I will actually pet.

29.Are you married? Yes, and it’s awesome!

30.Always wear your seat belt? Yes, always.

31.Been in a car accident? Yep, I read ended someone on the freeway once (it was more a love tap in rush hour, no damage to either car at all) and then I totaled my car on the freeway when I accidentally took two sleeping pills instead of two migraine pills and blacked out behind the wheel. Not a fun day…

32.Any pet peeves? Of course! One of my major ones is when people lecture/give advice as if you are too stupid to know any better. Like when they think that since they are older/have more kids/been married longer/whatever that if you like your life they must say something negative to “teach” you what is inevitably going to happen to you. I HATE that! I also hate when people think that we are bad people because we were married for 5 years before having a baby. Only in the Mormon culture…

33.Favorite pizza topping? Canadian Bacon. YUM!

34.Favorite Flower? Tulips

35.Favorite ice cream? Ben and Jerry’s Half Baked. It’s SO good!

36.Favorite fast food restaurant? Gonna have to say Taco Bell, with Wendy’s as a close second.

37.How many times did you fail your driver's test? I passed the first time!

38.From whom did you get your last email? Barbara Williams, from my work

39.Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Probably Barnes and Noble!

40.Do anything spontaneous lately? Spontaneous doesn’t work well with a baby…

41.Like your job? I do! I love being able to stay at home with my little son!

42.Broccoli? As long as it’s not raw. I can’t stand the texture of raw broccoli!

43.What was your favorite vacation? I LOVE Lake Powell, I have also loved Hawaii, Canada, West Virginia, Heritage Tours (three weeks back East), Bermuda, and of course my honeymoon in Montana! I have been on lots of other trips, but these ones stand out the most.

44.Last person you went out to dinner with? My hubby! My mom took the baby and we went to Wing Nutz before a play. Yum!

45.What are you listening to right now? Silence-baby is asleep and I am content with the quiet!

46.What is your favorite color? Depends, usually blue, but I like to wear pink and brown and black.

47.How many tattoos do you have? None, nor will I ever! I can barely get my blood drawn, how on earth would I handle a tattoo?!

48.Coffee drinker? No way, it stinks!

49.How many children do you have? One little guy!

50.Are you in love? Deeply!

Mastitis!

So, last week I was feeling a little bit sick, mostly a sore throat and some headaches. But, on Friday last week I got EXTREMELY sick! I was running a high fever, had terrible joint and body aches and pains, sore throat, awful headache, and some strange swelling under my left arm. It got to painful that I couldn't pick up the baby! So, I called Ben in tears and asked him to come home from work-which he did. I got in to a doctor to get an antibiotic or something, thinking that I had the flu. Come to find out, I actually have Mastitis-a breast infection! I am on a crazy high antibiotic, but that Friday night was one of the worst of my life. I was in so much pain in my joints that I couldn't even walk up the stairs-I had to crawl. I just laid on the couch in misery, and Ben would bring the baby to me when he needed to eat and then he would help hold him so I could nurse him. Nursing on my left side is extremely painful-but they encourage you to nurse through it! OUCH! I thought that I was doing a little bit better so on Sunday we went to my parents home for a family birthday dinner for my niece. I was doing fine but starting to go downhill as the night wore on. Finally, just as we were getting ready to go home, I stood up too fast and got a rush of pain, that combined to make me pass out! That was a little traumatic...After received a blessing from my dad and my husband, we were on our way again. I could sure use your prayers right now, I REALLY need to get over this thing! Ben is going out of town at the end of the week on a business trip and I am a little nervous that I will still be feeling like this. So, prayers are much appreciated!!!

A Few More Pics

Again, these are all from my phone so I apologize for the poor quality on some of them. I really need to start taking more pictures with a real camera...

Best Baby Book EVER!!

So, my sister in law introduced me to a book that has seriously turned my baby around! It is called Baby Wise and it talks about how to help your baby learn to fall asleep on their own, sleep on a routine, eat on a set routine, and sleep through the night earlier and more completely. It basically talks about how after you feed your baby, you need to keep them awake (except for at nights) for one hour total, including the feeding time. Then, baby goes down for a nap-period. They cry and fuss for a little while and then they sleep for about an hour to two hours. Then, if they don't wake up on their own to eat again, you wake them and feed them again. Then you have that wake time (you do things like take walks outside, sing songs, read books, have a bath, etc) and then they go down for a nap again. This routine helps them get the sleep they need, keeps them eating regularly, and makes for a MUCH happier baby! It talks about how to help them sleep through the night and says that on this system most babies sleep 7-8 hours at night by 8 weeks old! Noah already sleeps for 5 hours at a time at nights now on this system and he is SO MUCH HAPPIER!! He is much more alert during his wake times, and so much more content. He still has hard times where he cries and fusses a lot, and some of the naps don't go well and are a lot of work for both of us, but overall this system has been a huge deal! I highly recommend this book to ANYONE with little ones who can't sleep well. It talks about how to start this routine even if they aren't newborns too. They have a toddler-specific one as well. "On Becoming Baby Wise" by Gary Ezzo. Happy sleeping! :)