Roberts Family Activity

Noah and Ben right after we took some family pictures.

I sure love my boys!

Ben and Noah, Ashley, Dad, Ryan, and his friend Willow in front of the Africa exhibit

Emily with the sea shells.

Noah, Tyler, and Brittney

Butterfly exhibit.

Ben and I being cheesy.

Dad and Ashley

BIG fish!

Found out some clams get up to 400 lbs!

Noah sucking his thumb in his stroller.

Waiting for dinner at Brick Oven!

Yum!

Ben and his root beer float.

We had a fun time last Saturday, we all met at the grandparent's house for family pictures, and we barely beat out the rain, which turned out great! Then we all headed over to the Bean Museum on the BYU campus and walked around, and went out to Brick Oven for dinner! We get together as a family once a month for an activity, and this month Ben and I were in charge. I think it was a lot of fun, and all the really little kids liked seeing all the animals!

Noah's Hospital Visit

Laying on my bed, waiting to get his IV in.

See? Does he LOOK sick? :) Such a happy boy.

Exhausted after getting in the IV on his head. He screamed bloody murder the whole time.

Checking out the IV tube...

My happy, but very sick, little guy!

Breathing treatment with dad.

Noah still found time to do his yoga... :)

In the hospital crib. He thought it was really funny to bonk his head on the metal bars.

Noah and Ben

After getting in the oxygen tube and heart monitor.

Still happy!

Trying to pass the time. Monotony knows a whole new definition when it's a baby in this hospital, particularly one who isn't acting sick and wants to roll around and play!

Story time with dad.

Well, this post was originally going to be about our romantic trip together to Logan, but that never happened! We were supposed to leave for our trip on Tuesday and when we woke up Noah was cough, wheezing, had a fever, congestion, and was just all around sick. He was still in a crazy good mood despite all of that, he was talking and cooing and babbling like crazy, and wanted to play and roll around. So, we decided to take him to the doctor's office, thinking we would just get an antibiotic that my mom could give him while he was staying with her. Well, turns out they had us admitted to the hospital for an over night stay!

Noah has a strain of RSV, but it's a little bit different than the standard RSV. It causes asthma like symptoms that can linger for years and flare up when he gets a cold. It's not true asthma and he will eventually out grow it. Anyway, we went to the hospital and got his chest x-rayed and then checked into the pediatric ward. They had to put his IV in his head, which was really sad to see, because they couldn't get a good vein anywhere else. He HATED getting the IV in, it was painful and then uncomfortable. He always tried to play it or pull it out. It was taped to his head like crazy, and we had problems with it the whole time we were there. They almost took it out and re-did it at one point. It wouldn't work very well when he cried, which was the main problem.

They also had an oxygen monitor on his foot (which they had to move around constantly to get a good reading. A monitor on the foot is just not a good idea for the Sock Ninja!) and he also had a heart monitor on his chest and the oxygen tube in his nose. So-he was connected to 4 monitors, totaling 7 wires! Poor baby! The weird thing was how happy he was for most of it, the nurses kept commenting on how happy he was. We got a lot of nurse attention-one even told me that coming into our room was a break from the other unhappy screaming kids! :)

He had a total of 5 breathing treatments while we were there, and he didn't really like them but was asleep for two of them which was nice. He only got one hour long nap the whole day on Tuesday. He didn't fall asleep that night until almost 1:00 AM. He slept in the bed with me instead of his crib, because if he was in his crib he is such a mobile active baby that he was getting tangled up in the wires and got frustrated he couldn't move. So, he slept snuggled up against my side in the bed for the night-which wasn't long! We slept (and by we I mean he) from 1:00 AM until 3:00 AM when they had to wake him up to take more blood for tests and stuff like that. He HATED that part, and every other time they had to check his IV (frequently through the night) or poke him. I had a really hard time having to hold his arms down, or his head still, or keep a hand on his chest pushing down to keep him still while they did all of this stuff. At 4:30 he fell back asleep and slept until 6:00, and then suddenly woke up screaming bloody murder. I think he forgot where he was. He fell back asleep around 6:45 and slept until 8:15 and then was awake until we got to go home around noon. Poor guy was SO sleep deprived! This is the guy who normally sleeps 11-12 hours a night plus about 4 hours during the day! I was just glad that he would finally relax enough to sleep, even it was in my bed and made it so that I couldn't sleep!

Oh yeah-at 3:00 AM I realized that his diaper was full beyond belief and couldn't contain it anymore, since I had his pee ALL over my stomach and leg where he was cuddled up. We had to change his hospital gown as well. Once we were cleared to go home, they let me give him a bath to get all of the sticky stuff of his head, face, chest, leg, and foot. He LOVED being free from the wires and everything. He kept touching his head where the IV was at. He even "told" Dr. Whiting about it when he came to check on him. He kept babbling and touching his head as if to say, "And then they put this thing on my head right here..." He started to get really wheezy again before bedtime on Wednesday, but did okay through the night.

We went back to the doctor's office this morning for a follow up and he said that Noah's lungs sound a lot better. He's still wheezy so we got a nebulizer to continue to do breathing treatments at home. It's nice to know that at least now we can be more prepared for the wheezing next time he gets sick! He is also on an antibiotic for a few days. He is still SO happy and loving. Since that experience he has been a little more clingy to me than normal. If he is playing with his toys, he likes to keep a hand on my leg or something to let him know that I am still there with him. I'm sure that whole experience was frightening since you can't really explain to a 7 month old what's happening! But, we are home now and can continue to help him feel better. I think I kept a pretty level head through it all-even though it was SO incredibly hard to see my baby with all the wires and to try to comfort and calm him through the night. One nurse told me she was surprised this was my first baby, and our first hospital visit, since I was so calm and level headed. That made me feel like I am doing a pretty good job as a mom! :)

7 Month Pictures!

If you look closely, you can see his two bottom teeth! You might need to click on the picture to make it bigger to really see them. He looks so cute with his little teeth, but they are very hard to photograph!

My happy boy!

He's my little laundry buddy. I usually carry him upstairs in the basket with the clean clothes and we fold them in my room together. Okay-I fold them and he eats Ben's socks, but close enough.

In this picture he is actually saying, "dadadada" as he plays. For some reason he has really fixated on that "dada" word/sound. He says it over and over while he plays. He used to say "mamamama" all the time, so I guess it's Dad's turn! :) He can almost say "hi" also.

I turned the dryer on while he was sitting on it, and apparently it was a hit!

Trapped inside the laundry basket.

Loving the running dryer!

I actually took this picture while he was sucking on my sleeve, so I am using my other arm and taking it behind my head. Turned out to be a good picture of his beautiful blue eyes!

Wondering why I am interrupting his play time for a picture!

Getting extremely close on the crawling thing! He goes up on all fours all the time, but ends up scooting himself around backwards. He gets mad because instead of getting closer to his toys, he is getting farther away!

"Hi, Mom!"

He has gotten quite proficient at sitting down by himself now, and he really like to play sitting down.

These car keys are one of his favorite toys-the make sounds and he loves them!

Well, Noah is a very healthy boy, and we have officially quit nursing! I am SO enjoying it! I loved nursing for a while, but lately he had been having a hard time nursing, and then when those sharp teeth came in, that did it. So, we went one feeding at a time from nursing to sippy cup. That's right-sippy cup! Noah REFUSED to take a bottle, but was okay with a sippy. So, he is totally weaned now and he does great! He still prefers solid foods over formula. He is a good eater, and he eats everything we have tried to give him, even green veggies! He hasn't shown much discrimination to anything. He is also getting very good at feeding himself. He loves to pick things up off the tray and maneuver them to his mouth. He is still an excellent sleeper-he takes two 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, plus a little 45 minute cat nap in the evening. He goes to bed at 8:00 and sleeps until 7:30 or 8:00 the next morning. He doesn't fall asleep eating before bed time, so I put him in his crib totally wide awake, but he just sticks his thumb in his mouth and goes right to sleep without any fussing. He doesn't cry before his naps anymore either, or just for about a minute if he does decide to. He still rolls around like a rolling pin and is really into eating his toes. He still loves to have his baths, he totally soaks me almost every time, which he thinks is funny. He's a lot more ticklish than he used to be, which is fun too. We are leaving him with my mom Tues-Thurs of next week while we go on a little anniversary trip, which I am a little nervous about, but I know he will be fine. He is such a good baby! :)

Trafalga!

We went to Trafalga in Orem with my family on Saturday-it was SO fun! We played glow in the dark mini golf. Out of the adults, I was 6th place, and Ben was 3rd! Noah had a great time riding around in his stroller and looking at all the glowing paint and decor of the course. After we golfed, my nephews and niece played in the arcade for a little bit, and then we hit U-Swirl for a treat. Ben and I are officially hooked on U-Swirl now! It's delicious self serve frozen yogurt, and their toppings bar is ridiculous! They have everything! We had a great time!

Ben's Valentine's Day Surprise!

Those of you who know Ben well, know that he hates to be called, "Benny", a fact that my mother is very aware of. You will also know that Ben hates to be the center of attention, another fact my mother is very aware of. For Valentine's Day this year, my mom thought it would be funny to take something embarrassing in to Ben at his work, just for fun. For those of you who are thinking, "That doesn't sound like Megan's mom", you don't actually know her very well! My mom loves jokes and pranks-as long as they are good natured. And, she knows that my awesome husband happens to be VERY good natured. So-here's what happened!

She made him a giant sugar cookie and frosted it. Notice the Benny Boo on it.

She got a bouquet of ostentatious balloons.

And she found some awesome heart glasses to wear. This is her right before we walking into the building to deliver Ben's surprise!

He was shocked! So totally unexpected, and my mom walked into the room (where all of the other developers also are) calling out in a high, silly voice: "Benny?! Is my Benny Boo in here?!" It took Ben a half a second to process that: a) this was my mom, b) she was calling him Benny, and c) that I was right behind her with Noah and a camera.

Then he just started laughing and laughing! He was laughing so hard, he couldn't say anything for a minute, and he even grasped for something to say, which is very unusual for him! He thought it was hilarious, and is already plotting his revenge. My poor mom, Ben doesn't just get even, he will one up!

Mom tried to tie the balloons to his desk, but the knot came loose and the balloons floated up to the rafters above Ben's desk, and there they will stay until they deflate! Ben's reaction was hilarious, and his co-workers called him Benny, and one person asked if he could just call Ben "Boo", which was hilarious.

Ben walked us out after a few minutes, and then went back inside, naively believing the joke was over. But, as soon as he was inside the building (with no windows from his office to the parking lot), we decorated his car.

Mom was especially proud of the big Benny Boo on the back window.

Ben had a great time with the joke, being a very good sport and taking it for the fun that it was. He was still laughing throughout the day, and called me from the car wash-once he discovered his car! I came home to one line on my computer in our chat window, "Your mom is going to get it." :) His plans thus far are pretty funny, and I will be sure to post the retaliation once it happens! (Don't worry Mom, he's going to play nice...enough!)

As for the rest of the Valentine's Day, Ben brought me home a big red Valentine's Day bag, and inside were a whole bunch of treats that I LOVE but never buy for myself. I am very good at not buying junk food-even though I always want to. Some of the treats included Peanut M&Ms (all time favorite!), Sour Patch Watermelons, and gummy bears. Then, also inside the bag, was a note from Ben saying that he had been secretly saving up for blinds for our main floor windows!!! I am SO excited! I have Wal-Mart sheets hanging in the windows of the living room and kitchen, and blinds there instead will be awesome! He knows me very well, and knows that spoiling me with my favorite (but forbidden) treats is more fun to me than flowers, and that I have been wanting blinds for months and months! We had our traditional feast of deli food from Smith's. (Reminiscent of our first Valentine's Day together, we had a candlelit carpet picnic with deli food since we were poor.) Then, after the baby was in bed for the night, I had candles lit all over our room as a surprise for Ben, it was very romantic! :) I love my husband, he is absolutely amazing, treats me so incredibly well, and has made my life a joy!

Noah's 6 Month Stats

Well, we just got back from Noah's 6 month check up! Four shots later...He did really good though, he didn't cry again, which is awesome, and then he just went to sleep on the way home. Hopefully he stays in a good mood the rest of the day and tomorrow. He is 27 1/2 inches and 16 lbs 2 oz. So, he is in the 23% for weight, but the 75% for height. The doctor said he has really muscly legs too, which is not surprising since Noah is SO active! Everything else checked out perfectly, he is a healthy boy! We got the green light to go ahead with fruits and veggies, and we are going to start transitioning to the bottle from nursing this week, wish me luck! :)

Superbowl Success!

Well, another Superbowl party is done and done! We had a really nice turn out again this year, about 15 people and a few little kids and babies. I was shocked, but Noah still took his afternoon nap, even with all of the noise and everything! He did awesome! He liked watching all of the people in the house. One of the other couples there had a little girl a few months older than Noah and they used the high chair to feed her. I showed Noah the other baby in his chair-and he scowled at her! It was really funny! We had plenty of food-we made BBQ pulled pork for sandwiches, homemade queso and chips, little smokies (in chili sauce and grape jelly!), peanut butter bars, smore bars, and then we also had cake pops brought in by a friend. Plus, we had more pop than we knew what to do with and lots of chips, as well as a nice veggie tray! I think it was a successful party since we had a few people ask for the recipes for the meat stuff. That's usually a pretty good sign...Plus we didn't have too much food leftover, another good sign! :) I didn't get any pictures, unfortunately, but we set up a 6 ft table in the family room for all of the food, and we turned the office into a playroom for the kids by putting lots of toys in there (from my mom's house) and our extra TV and DVD player so they had their own little movie party. We also put the Love Sack in there, which was a hit! It all turned out great, and, quite unintentionally, the plates, cups, and napkins were even in the team colors of the Giants-the team we were cheering for! I am pretty sure that's why they won...

First Tooth!

Well, Noah officially has a tooth! It's poking out a pretty good amount, and his disposition has improved dramatically compared with the couple of days before the tooth poked out! Poor guy, good thing none of us remember teething, it sure doesn't look very fun! Noah will turn 6 months old on Saturday, which means we have his 6 month check up on Monday! Stay tuned for his measurements and pictures from the Superbowl! :)

Recent Happenings

Well, this past weekend my whole family got together at a friend's cabin and had a fantastic overnighter! This cabin is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and has lots to do, everything from a theater room to ping pong to air hockey to hot tub to a barn with animals to visit! It was a blast. Noah had a little bit of a hard time going to bed that night, but once he was asleep he was out for the count until 8:30 the next morning, which was awesome. We had a family bingo game that we played too, I learned a few things about my siblings which was really fun. My niece and nephew LOVED the house, it is really big so they ran around like crazy trying to see everything. It was a lot of fun, and we even got to watch the snow fall which was gorgeous. Then on Sunday we were all over at my parent's house to celebrate two birthdays-Mom and my sister-in-law Ashli. It was a lot of fun as well, although all of the kids (Noah included) were pretty tired from the late night at the cabin. On Monday was my mom's actual birthday and as a surprise I took dinner over for her and the family. It was my sister's idea-and she took care of all the planning and everything, right down to having sparkling cider for the beverage! It has been nice to have a couple of days just at home since all that happened back to back-I have my work stuff to get turned in and it was good to get Noah back to a set routine. All in all, it's been a lot of fun lately! :)

The Solid Food Experience!

Our first day eating rice cereal! Noah's bib says, "This is what handsome looks like", which is actually the VERY first thing I bought when I found out that I was having a baby boy! :)

I don't think he is smiling for the cereal so much as he is smiling for daddy making funny sounds behind the camera!

Feeding him cereal takes FOREVER, but he is so cute that it's all worth it! He is getting better and better at eating it, we will be moving to vegetables soon!