Toddlers change your life

So Noah is now 15 Months...SAD :*(...My Baby is growing up WAY too fast!!

Over the course of 15 Months, my life has changed and I have noticed a few things that others will possibly enjoy so I thought I would share.

A few way Toddlers change your life:

1. You miss the days when you could go to the bathroom on your own
2.  Your idea of a "nice" restaurant is somewhere loud so if the kids get upset, no one else notices
3.  Every time you go to clean the house, Barney's "Clean Up" song gets stuck in your head
4.  You know what the "Hot Dog Dance" is
5.  Your house looks like you are running a day care when you only have one 15 months old (oh wait...maybe that is just me...oops!)
6.  Every time you hear the word "noodle" all you can hear in your head is Elmo's voice saying "Mr. Noodle"
7. You know who Mr. Noodle is
8. You find yourself watching kids shows and are actually getting in to them when you notice that you are by yourself because the kids left a LONG time ago

 

But I wouldn't trade that face for all the bathroom privacy in the world!!!  :)

Mexico: The Sequel

Oh long time no post; I know I know. It has been SO busy, and all my posting time has gone to...are you ready for this...sewing! Ahh! Allen got me a sewing machine for our anniversary, and before you flog him for getting my such a "lame gift with a plug", I wanted it! I asked for it! I was sooo excited! :)

I really enjoy it but it has taken all of thinking/writing time! I just finished all of my niece's (AHHH let me bask in that statement a minute....I am going to be an AUNT!!  AAHHH!! Allen's sister is due on Christmas day with our sweet little Hadley Lyn and I can't wait to get my hands on that baby!!) baby shower gifts and so before I start my next few projects, I thought I might try to catch my friends up.

The end of September Allen and I went with two other couples to Mexico for a week to an all inclusive resort. We really had an amazing trip! The resort was quaint but had everything we needed, and I was able to fulfill two of my dreams with-in a 12 hour time span!

First, I got to hold a MONKEY! Yes a real monkey, Oh my goodness it was the cutest thing! They were of the little variety (I have NO clue) but unfortuantely the resort took the pictures and we weren't able to get back down to the place to buy the pictures before we left, but more on that later.

The second... you ready? I just dont know if you are...I got to release a baby sea turtle into the ocean!!! OMG, OMG, OMG. Like seriously, I got to hold this tiny, precious creature that could possibly live until it is like over 100 years old in my hand and put him (or her) on the beach and watch him (or her) crawl its way into the ocean!
When I was little, my Grandmother lived in Satellite Beach, FL and one summer while visiting, her friend's husband took my cousin, me, and his children to the beach one night and we went on a hunt for sea turtles. Now we were not hunting to keep them, or kill them, we were hunting to try to find a momma turtle to watch her lay her eggs. We found one that night, watched her find her spot on the beach dig her hole, and watched her lay over 100 eggs. But of course I never got to see one after they hatched. Until this trip! There were 140 baby turtles and every couple could get a baby and release it. It was seriously such an awesome experience!

We also went to see Tellum, the only Mayan Ruins that are near a beach. It was really neat to see. After that we went on a zip line, rappelling, and snorkeling in an underground cave, a very fun day, until we got back to the resort and got ready for dinner.

That is me WAYY up there!!

 

Before we went into the cave

 The whole trip Allen called our trip Honeymoon 2: The Sequel ; For those of you that don't know, we went to Cabo, Mexico for our honeymoon, and Allen got food poisoning 4 days into it. So the joke of the trip was it could be "honeymoon 2: The Sequel" but not a repeat.
Go big or go home right? Well....more on that later...
Allen never has dinner Wednesday night after we got back from our excursion because he was sick. He never left the room all day Thursday because he was sick. I tried to get him to eat something, I think all he managed to eat were two rolls and a mini bite of a non seasoned-baked chicken breast. By 7:20 Thursday night Allen had made that decision that he felt like it was time to pay the $130 for the resort doctor to come and check him out because he has been sick for 24 hours at this point and wasn't getting any better. I will save you all the details of his illness, but lets just say it wasn't pretty.
May I add in the side note here that I do NOT handle stress well. I was a complete mess extremely stressed out and crying uncontrollably.
The doctor comes to check him out and does his exam and tell us that he thinks we need to "discard his appendix" (Insert more uncontrollable tears here) We were 99% sure that it was not appendicitis since Allen had not once vomited, so we convinced the doctor to give Allen two shots and if he wasn't feeling better in about two hours we were supposed to call him and go to the hospital for Xrays and blood work.
The doctor left the room and I left soon after to go try to get us a flight home. We wanted Allen to be home if anything was getting "discarded" from his body.
Trying to switch flights was a whole 'nother set of uncontrollable tears because while they weren't being mean to me, they wanted to charge us over $1000 just to change flights to leave ONE day early. I told the lady as nice as I could, thank you for your help but I would be purchasing new tickets instead of transferring as I could buy two brand new tickets for $700.
By the time I get the flight booked, a cab set up to pick us up, and my in-laws in line to pick us up in Atlanta (we decided the less time in the air was better even if it meant a three hour car ride home) it was around 11:15 and I still had to pack my stuff and Allen's stuff, our flight was leaving at 7:15am and the cab would be at the hotel at 5am.
I finally laid down around 12:45 or so, had a wake up call set for 3:30am and slept terrible, for the few hours I did sleep.
I had several break downs after I woke up because I was just so nervous and anxious, I didn't know what was wrong with Allen, I wasn't sure if he was going to be able to sit up and make it on a 2 and a half hour plane ride, it was just all too much for me and not enough sleep.
But sometimes I think God sends me signs to calm my anxious heart because He knows I am too stressed, too anxious, too whatever to sit and be still and listen for Him. But yet He knows I so desperately need Him at that moment. As long as I have my eyes and heart open enough to see it, I know that He is there and that morning He was there.
Backing up to when we first got to the resort, there was this sweet little animal that they called a Mexican Raccoon, it had the coloring of a raccoon but a long nose like an anteater. They were all over the resort and they were so cute! We only saw them the first couple of days and then we hadn't seen them since, except the morning Allen and I left.
We walked out of our door and down the hall and bit and I saw something out of the corner of my eye and when I looked again it was the raccoon. In the hallway of the resort! It saw us and turned and ran the direction we were walking and it stopped about half way down the hall and turned and looked back at us, almost as if it was waiting on us saying "Come on! This way!!" 

This was taken when we saw him the first time but this little guy

 

was all I needed 

It was all I needed that morning, I instantly felt everything lifted from my body. Thank you Lord Jesus for the little things!!
We got in the cab, and on that plane and Allen made it fine. He started feeling bad when we landed in Atlanta but it was OK because we were in America and almost home!

Allen is fine now, and Needless to say I think this Jones family is done with Mexico for a while! We will stick with the States for a vacations for a while!
Not to mention we missed our little man!!! :)

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary to Allen and me! :) 4 years!! It really seems like yesterday that we just met through mutual friends, (Yes, all credit goes you Larry)    :)
4 years ago today right about now 11:30 am I had just gotten my hair finished and was heading to the church to get my make up done and then to put on my dress, we were having our pictures done before the ceremony and Allen and I got to have a "moment" of just him and I at the front of the altar before all of the mayhem started.
There were really very few things I would have changed about our wedding, I wish I would have gotten the other dress that I fell in love with that was trumpet style, I would have gotten my bridesmaids a tea length style that would have been more possible for them to wear again, and I would have wanted my mom to be on time and someone else to do her hair (DON'T get me started on her hair) but really I think that might be it. I am sure that there are other things here and there I wish had or hadn't happened but all in all things went perfect and we couldn't have asked for better weather! It was beautiful!!

It is funny when I think back because 10 years ago, I didn't even know Allen. 10 years ago he was a freshman in college and I was a senior in High School, the same High School that we had attended together for two years and never once met or knew each other existed.

But all along God knew that we were for each other and we would be together. It makes me happy that somewhere out there Noah has a wife waiting for him to meet her, she may or may not already be born yet but God knows who she is and it makes me happy that one day they will meet and know they are for each other. I pray that this is an easy find for him and although I know there will be heartbreaks and heartaches along the way that he has few and finds her quickly.

I have been through a lot of ups and downs in my life and Allen led a much different life, so he definitely keeps me grounded when my anxieties want to come creeping back into my life. We are so silly together but it makes me smile when I think about how much fun we have when we are together, we truly do have a good time together and enjoy each others company.
When I met Allen I was at a really low point in my life, I really didn't have a lot of good friends, I was single, I had just started a new job a few months earlier and when weekends came it meant me staying home by myself. My world completely changed the night I met him  seven and a half years ago and it literally hasn't stopped since, I love you Allen Jones and I pray for many, many more years together of laughs, smiles, hugs, and kisses!!

I had just put my dress on for the first time :)

This has always been on of my favorite pictures, it is like we are saying "We did it!" Can you believe it?!"

Classic Allen just did something face, Classic Alicia is not amused face  :) ha ha

My Lack of OCD

So I will admit it, our house is not always clean. Most of the time there are toys scattered across the house with a random dog toy here and there. The sink almost always has dishes in it, not because we dont clean them, but because the second I start the dishwasher a cup appears from nowhere and thus starts the "pile" again in the sink. There is often a layer a dust in one room or another. The floors are generally clean for like 30 minutes and then Allen comes tromping through or Noah spills something and gets them dirty again. Our bathroom...ugghh.. I don't even want to go there. Our baseboards probably haven't been cleaned since before Noah was born. (Embarrassing, but we are all friends here right?) The windows...Seriously Lord only knows.
I do clean, I really do. Going by the previous paragraph you are probably thinking you need to call DCS on us but I promise our house is no rat hole, it is just not spotless. And honestly, I have become OK with that.
I clean what I can, when I can and that is all I can do. I feel like I am surrounded by friends who have cleaning OCD and can't stand for there to be one fork in the sink or one speck of dirt on their floor. All I can say is don't judge me because I am not like that.I wasn't raised in a home like that and I didn't grow into that kind of adult. I am sorry.
I have learned the word "clean" has many different definitions depending on who you are talking to, my definition changes depending on who is or isn't coming over to our house that day :)
A few days ago, a friend told me to be thankful that I didn't "have" to clean the garage windows or dust the bedroom every single day. But it did make me think how funny it is that sometimes while I wish I had a little MORE "need" to clean, apparently there are others that wish they had much less.
Just another example of how we are all made different for a reason, and how neither side is right or wrong, but for those of you that are the clean freaks, just don't hate me because there are toys in the floor, dust on my baseboards, and dishes in my sink. :)

Jealousy

Growing up, I thought I was the only one in the world. I was surrounded by wonderful people and no one else was like me. Now that I am older, I have found that there are a lot more people than I thought that had a similar situation that I had and it makes me feel more comfortable in my own skin. Well, a little more comfortable anyways.
I will admit, I am jealous of those around me that have these awesome relationships with their moms. The ones that call their moms with any kind of exciting news or even just because they found an awesome deal on a shirt at TJ Maxx. The ones that get to go shopping with their moms. The ones that are in their 20's and 30's and their moms still take them shopping like they used to when they were in their teens. The ones that want to just go hang out with their mom when they dont have anything else to do. The ones who have a baby and their mom comes and stays with them and helps them at every step of the way. The ones who call their moms for advice on life, outfits, cooking, and babies.
I don't have that. I am not saying this for sympathy, It is just time I talk about it.
I will say, because I know there are so many out there that don't. I do have a relationship with my mom, I talk to her every once in a while. And we are by no means, on bad terms. She can see Noah when she wants, it isn't anything like that (although there was definitely a time in my life where I thought it would be). But we have just never had that "mother/daughter" relationship that so many have, and I just hate that I missed out on such an important part of life.

It has affected me in so many aspects of my life. And I really didn't realize it until after Allen and I got married. I found out rather quickly that his mom loves to give and help. This was such a change in my life, I didn't know how to handle it. I welcomed it, it was great, but it was hard for me to adjust to have someone willing to help us. Allen was used to it and didn't really understand why I was so hesitant, but when you aren't used to someone so willing to be there for you and help if needed, your brain just doesn't know how to process it. I had to be so independent for so long and now there is someone in my life that is willing to be there when and if I need her, for anything. I just couldn't quite wrap my brain around it. (I had people in my life that took care of me, that is not what I am saying at all, just not my mom, like a "mom" is supposed to be.)
I still struggle a little today with Noah, asking for help when needed. I feel like I am supposed to be able to do it by myself and I just don't understand why I can't sometimes. And I always feel terrible asking someone to watch him for me. Even if it is just for an hour or two, I just feel guilty asking. Allen on the other hand, growing up with a great mom just picks up with phone, calls his mom and asks, no emotions attached.I just wonder if there will be a day when I get to that point...

I know for a fact though, that God places people in your life for a reason. Growing up, I always had "staple" friends. I was never really a social butterfly. I had my BFF's and we stuck together for years. And with my BFF's came their mom's. Who every single one of them, took me in as their own. (I guess they kind of had to considering I was at their house just about every weekend :) but still) I got to see what having a "normal" mom would be like, and I thank them for that SSOOO much! Mrs. Jane, Mrs. Tammy, and Mrs. Mysti, You all were there for me in ways you probably dont even know and I really thank you.

But because of what I went through I want to be a better mom than what I had and I am striving every day to do it. I know I am who I am BECAUSE of what I have been through NOT despite it. And I have always, always said "everything happens for a reason". This is not the easiest thing to remember but I always have to remind myself of it.
Romans 8:28 "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Battle of the Bottle

Ahh, long time, no blog. I wanted my next post to be about Noah's party but I was so stressed out that day that I didn't even take ONE picture of anything :( There were pictures taken, but I personally don't have any, so that post will be for another day, but it is coming...Man, I am a terrible mom... But His party went GREAT!! and he did awesome! I can't wait to share! :)
Noah is officially not a baby anymore, he is a year old and he is a toddler now. He loves to walk all over the place!
The day after his party I decided it was time to start the process of bottle weaning, we had already made the transition from formula to milk, so it was just going to be a matter of getting rid of these bottles.
After church last Sunday, we tried to give him his milk out of a sippy cup.... MELT-DOWN!! We tried a different sippy cup that is very similar to a bottle, a little better but still NOT happy. For the rest of the week, the meltdowns continued. We have managed to go from 5, sometimes 6 bottles a day, to about 3. We do one in the morning, one before bed and we are generally forced to give him one around 4 because he has a meltdown of all meltdowns and nothing else will soothe him.

This by far is the most stressful thing we have been through so far with him. He has always been such a happy little man and now he goes through stages of total angry baby. It makes me so sad because essentially I am doing this to him. I know it is for the best and obviously he can't be 3 and still drinking from a bottle. We offer him lots of other foods and he picks and chooses what he likes and dislikes that day. He used to be such an awesome eater, it really didnt matter what I gave him, he would eat it. Now, he is pushing away and spitting out almost all veggies. I am going to try to puree some more tonight to see if it is a texture thing, and maybe he will eat them that way for now but then what... Oh man, I know we have so many more challenges ahead of us on this long road of parenthood but this one is hard. The meltdowns are TOUGH!! I myself have had several "meltdowns" along with him. It is silly to think of having a meltdown over him not eating some green beans and carrots but it is just hard to see him struggling so much over not having his bottles.

We go back to the doctor for a check up in 6 months, for his 18 month check-up. So I have decided to do a LONG term goal, we will be bottle free by his 18 month appt. Hopefully before that, but at least that gives me a goal and a lot of time! 

 He is so cute, you wouldn't think he could turn into a little monster!!

At his first Birthday Dinner! 

"25 Random Facts" from 2009

I was recently looking through my facebook profile and came across a "note" that I posted January 25, 2009. It was kind of fun to read through what I had written, so I thought I would share.

I would not change much of what I wrote except of course something about Little Man would be on there :)

What would be your 25 Random Facts? :)

25 Random Facts about Me

by Alicia Jones on Sunday, January 25, 2009 at 10:26am

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.)

1.I am amazed that God has given me such a wonderful husband everyday

2.I absolutely ADORE his ENTIRE family!!!

3.I miss the fact that I never really knew either of my grandfathers

4. I love my dog and think he might be the cutest dog in the world

5. I LOVED our wedding but would truly like to do it again! :)

6. I love to travel and cant wait to see more of God's beautiful earth

7. No matter where the destination I HATE to pack!!!!

8. I did not vote for our president, but I know that God is in Control.

9. I can't wait to me a mom!!!

10. I am going back to school after a five year "break".

11. I love shopping but am always worried about the price tag.

12. I hate Chinese food but LOVE Japanese food! :) Fried Rice, YUMMY!!!

13. I miss my best Friend

14. I think it truly is a small world after all

15. I have an addiction to Chapstick, literally it is EVERYWHERE!!

16. I am still afraid of the dark.

17. I have to have something/someone sleep with me (dog, person, if all else fails my blanket will do)

18. I can NOT kill anything that has a stinger, i feel like they will retaliate

19. I play video games w/ my husband

20. I am terrible cook :(

21. I have wonderful friends and am so thankful for that

22. My family verges on the side of dysfunctional

23. I love hanging out with w/ my in-laws

24. I think my brother is a pretty cool dude.

25. I love the way my life has panned out!

A Year Ago Today... (Part Two)

A Year Ago today was both a wonderful day and a bit of a blur.
A Year Ago today our lives changed forever in just one breath.
A Year Ago today our very large family sat in the waiting room at the hospital waiting on one tiny person.
A Year Ago today our son was born.

As the nurse said it would, all the action started around 6am. She started coming in about every 30 - 45 min and upping the pitocin drip. By 7:30, I decided I was ready for that epidural.

My Doctor came in soon after and broke my water and then the contractions REALLY kicked in! WOW! Epidural was put in shortly after and it took a little while to get it leveled out. My left side was numb pretty much immediately but I could still feel EVERYTHING on the right side.  We got it fixed and once I was pain free, my body went into complete relax mode. I felt like someone had given me a sleeping pill! I was OUT! I would wake up when someone came in the room but it wouldn't take me long to go back to sleep.

Labor went fast, I say that, but again keep in mind I was asleep through pretty much all of it :) I know around 10 or 10:30am the nurse checked me and I was at 9cm, Only 1 more to go!
I remember waking up somewhere between 1 and 1:30 when the nurse came in to check me and I said to her "I don't mean to be rude, but what are we waiting on?" No one had checked me in hours and I just knew I had to be at a 10! My nurse came back in shortly and checked me and I was indeed at a 10. She left and when she came back it was go time! It was all so fast I couldn't believe Noah was about to be here and in my arms! 3 sets of ten second count-pushes later, He was here!

At 2:08pm, on August 2, 2010 Noah was born, 8lbs 7.5ozs & 19.5in long. He was beautiful, healthy and PERFECT!

A Year Ago today we became parents.
A Year Ago today our lives changed forever in just one breath.
A Year Ago today God gave us the most beautifully, perfect gift anyone could ever give.
A Year Ago today our son was born.

A Year Ago Today... (Part One)

A Year Ago today was my due date.
A Year Ago today I was 4 cm dilated, had only felt one contraction through the entire pregnancy and little man was as happy as a clam where he was, and I really don't think had any intentions of coming out any time soon.
A Year Ago today was one of the longest days of my life.
A Year Ago today at 7pm, we went in to be induced!
A Year Ago today this is what I looked like...

We woke up and went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, I wanted my last meal to be one of their fruit and yogurt parfaits, man those things are good! I couldn't eat or drink anything past 11 am. That my friends it a LONG time for a pregnant woman!
After breakfast, I honestly don't remember what we did. There isn't much to do when you know that night you are going in to the hospital a family of two and coming out three days later as a family of three.
We may have ran some errands, just to take up time, seriously I have no clue, eventually we came home and I remember re packing my bags, making sure we had everything in there for myself and the baby. Allen was on his own for packing. I despise packing and he is a big boy (however since I didn't oversee his packing, he didn't pack any undershirts or pajama pants and his sister had to bring those to him the next day...boys...)
Seriously, trying to occupy yourself until 6:30pm is really hard, We really had NOTHING to do. I kept looking at the clock and 20 minutes would have passed. I remember it finally got to 4pm, and I thought "Oh, wow. We are down to just like 2 hours" those few hours passed pretty quickly simply because we taking pictures getting bags in the car, doing last minute checks on things around the house.
And then we were on our way! So excited and yet nervous because we had no idea what was in store for my delivery. We got to the hospital, got checked in, I got changed into a gown and got hooked up to all the monitors and IV's. And then they told us to wait again. They had me on a very low dose of pitocin for the night and all the action would start around 6:00 the next morning.
That was a long night. Trying to sleep with a fetal heart rate monitor, a contraction monitor, and being hooked up to IV's is no easy task. I can't really say how much sleep I got that night, but I can tell you it wasn't much.

A Year Ago today was my due date.
A Year Ago today we walked into Baptist Hospital in Nashville for the last time as a party of 2.
A Year Ago today was one of the longest days and nights of my life.
A Year Ago today Allen and I both fell asleep to the sound of our son's heartbeat in my belly.
A Year Ago today this is what I looked like...

But only for a few more hours!!

Nursing

This post has been a long time coming and every time I want to sit down and write it, I talk my self out of it. I am not one for confrontation so I just normally sat back and let people run their mouths and offend me, but today I take my stand.
With the birth of our friend's little girl, I am reliving the first few weeks Allen and I had with Noah. Allen and I talk all the time about how much we loved the stay in the hospital, and we truly did. When we got home, we of course were on cloud nine with our little man and could not have been happier. Noah was born on a Monday and had his first check up with his pediatrician on Friday. When he was born he was a whopping 8 lbs 7.5ozs! A big boy! I had always plan to nurse Noah, never considered anything else. I always knew that there could be complications with it and it was possible that I would not be able to but I figured I would just cross that bridge if I got there.
I tried while in the hospital with the help of lactation consultants to nurse him, and I thought I was doing pretty good and we had gotten the routine down. There were some struggles along the ways but I was feeling comfortable enough with it by the time we got home. When we went to the Dr's appt. that Friday they of course checked his weight, little man was down to 7lbs 6ozs. Not good, but (in our Dr's words) "nothing to light your hair on fire about" either. (I LOVE our pediatrician!!!) He told us he wanted to see us back in on Monday for a weight check. My milk had just come in and he was pretty sure Noah would start putting his weight back on.
Monday morning came and we went in for our weight check, which I was confidant we were going to Ace (like it was a math test or something) and again Noah still only weighed 7lbs 6oz. He was a week old and over a pound under his birth weight. Our Dr. sent us to see the lactation consultants at the hospital to get some help and a feeding plan.
We went to the consultant Monday after the doctor and Noah ate like a champ! She even said if he ate like that every time he should gain weight in no time, they had us come back the following day because babies should gain 1/2 oz a day (i think that is right...sorry if I am wrong but you get the general idea) we go the following day and Noah has again gained nothing. We feed again with the lactation consultant and he eats so well! We pretty much repeat the process. We are to come back Wednesday for a weight check. We go back again Wednesday and Noah has gained some weight but not enough to get excited about. At this point they recommend that we rent a breast pump, and I rotate pumping and bottle feeding with nursing. While doing this I am recording how often he is eating, how much he is eating, and how much I am pumping. They have advised me to go to the health food store and get a pill to help with my production.

At this point it is Friday, we have been to the lactation consultant every single day that week. By Friday she has me solely pumping and bottle feeding as she is feeling that I have low production along with the fact that Noah is a little bit of a lazy eater. With me pumping, we can know exactly how much my body produces and how much he is eating.

We visit the consultants a few more times and I talk to her several more times over the next week or two. We figure out that the health food pill is not really helping me at all so I get a RX that I can only take for a week to help production. This pill works and I am so excited because for the first time I am producing enough to feed Noah, not have to supplement with formula and actually had some to store away for later!
I took my last RX pill and two days later it was like I was a different person, I was only producing about two ounces and Noah needed a lot more than that, so we were back to supplementing with formula. Huge disappointment.
After talking again, for what would be the last time, to the lactation consultant. I had to make a decision. It had been 6 weeks and for four and a half of them I had been pumping every 3-4 hours (on top of bottle feeding Noah every three hours.) I was pumping and I was still having to give Noah formula on top of the breast milk. My body simply would not produce enough milk to keep up with Noah's needs, period. I had to make one of the hardest decision I have had to make and stop pumping.  Noah was going to be, from then on, a formula fed baby.

What bothers me is this, there are people out there that want to bash moms that choose formula for their babies but they have no IDEA why the mom has chosen formula. I know that there are some moms that are 100% breastfeed, (and luckily these moms have not had any problems) and I know there are some moms that never even try breastfeeding, because they simply just dont want to, and you know what. It is none of my business and it is none of yours either. That is between them and their doctor. I saw someone on facebook post an article about breastfeeding recently and then have the nerve to type with it "...Formula is bad." Really?!? Formula is what is keeping my child alive and so many other children alive, so is it worse to give my child formula or to let him starve? Answer me that...

I just want people to know that there are other reasons out there why moms "choose" not to nurse. It may or may not be thier choice but it happens and no one should be judged for it, because in 5 years when my son is going into Kindergarten with all of the other kids, you will never know who was formula fed or breastfed. You will only know that this child is loved and cared for very much and has been since the day he was born.

Bored

It is so funny to me how your out look on life changes as you get older. The first time this really hit me was when my grandmother passed away in 2006 and we went down to Florida for her funeral. I had not been to her house in years before this and as soon as I walked in I just remember thinking "Wow, nothing in here has changed, yet everything seemed so different" I remember when I was little everything looked so big, now at 21 the ceiling in the kitchen was just an arm raise away. And now that I am an adult, having conversations about the past with my parents, it is almost comical to hear stories from an adult's prospective compared to what I remember happening as a child.
I sort of feel like a child today as I have been sitting at the house all day with Noah, because Allen has been working and since we have no where to go, I am bored. I remember when I was little I would always tell my parents "I'm bored" and they would tell me to go outside, go play with your barbies, go call ___ and see what they were doing today, etc just basically go do something to stop whining and entertain myself. I always thought "Wow, I want to be a grown up because they never get bored and they can go wherever they want"  but I am an adult now and can go wherever I want and today I am bored!
Allen is home now, but he is "resting" by playing a video game, the dog is snoring beside me and Noah is taking a nap. I know, I know,  should be basking in the quiet and soaking it all in, and normally I do, but for some reason today I just want to DO something. I have had an itch to "craft" lately but not sure what direction I want to take that in. I do love to scrapbook but that is not the crafting I have been wanting to do. I don't know what it is though. I almost feel like I want to try something new.. sewing maybe...that would require lessons and lead to me needing to purchase a machine... I think I wish I could find something that I could make and sell. As I have blogged before I have fallen in love with Etsy and I wish I had something I could sell on there! I would love to actually get orders and make something for people to buy. Maybe I will start searching for that "something" :) Don't worry you will be one of the first to know if I find it!

I'm Back!!

Oh my! I am soo excited to be back on here! Life with an 11 1/2 month old is a little crazy! :) We were having some wireless trouble and I can't really blog much while the man is awake, and if wireless is down, so is the laptop. Long boring story, anyways! Yes, Noah is 11 1/2 months! I am sad and so excited at the same time! He is growing up right before our eyes and I feel like I have missed it all because it has all happened so fast!

We (as in me with a lot of help from friends and mother in law) are planning Noah's first birthday party and I am sooo excited about it! We are doing Vintage Cowboy theme! :) How cute, right?!? I will try to post pictures as soon as possible! His invitations are so freaking cute, I wish I had other uses for them! I found them on Etsy. I will say, Etsy used to be a site I would cringe at the thought of even typing the name in my browser because there is so much stuff on there it overwhelms me to look through it, but if you are looking for something in particular, oh my goodness, they have the cutest things on there! I also ordered Noah his birthday T-Shirt from Etsy as well. It has a Vintage Cowboy on it of course :) Hoping to get it in the mail tomorrow, can not wait to see it on him!

As for the little man himself, well he is a full blown crawler now, he waited until two days before his 9 month dr appt (which had been rescheduled due to vacation and was actually only about a week from him turning 10 months) to start. We were so excited!  He loves to be "chased" even though sometime he doesnt always "run" from you, he just sits there and laughs. And now that little guy is in to everything!! And he does not appreciate being told "no." He has a bit of a temper, so I am guessing we are really going to have our hands full in the next year or so. He is so close to walking now too! He stands all by himself but is just too scared to take a step :) He has 9 teeth now! He really is like looking at a little toddler with all of those teeth smiling back at you!

 So much has changed, and I plan to do better with my blog, I always have good ideas for my posts but when I have time to type the laundry and dust are yelling too loud for me to type.
I will do better. I promise! Be patient with me friends! :)

Officially a mom

It has happened... I officially become a true mom on Monday night.  **Fair warning, this may gross you out***
Allen and I put Noah to bed about 10 Monday night, I went to bed around 11. At 11:45 Allen came in our bedrooom, woke me up and said that I needed to come check on Noah with him because he was soaking wet and crying. He thought he had MEGA leaked out of his diaper and needed help changing sheets, etc. When we get back into Noah's room though, Allen turns on his lights and notice it was not pee at all, it was spit up. Being that I had been awake all of 1 minute, I thought nothing of my soaking wet child and proceeded to strip him and his bed down. While I was doing that Allen cleaned off Noah. This stuff was EVERY where! In his nose, ears, hair, stuck in his neck roll, seriously everywhere.We put him back down, he went back to sleep immediately.

As I walked back to our bedroom, I thought, that was a lot more than spit up... I laid back down only to hear Noah screaming again about 5 minutes later. I gave Allen a minute to go in there to see if he just needed his Paci re-inserted, but Noah would not calm down. His cries only got louder and angrier. I get up from bed and Allen asks if maybe he is hungry since he spit up so much. I told him I really didn't know and picked Noah up to calm him. As soon as I had him in a vertical position, he exploded on me. For the first time since he was born, Noah had projectile vomit. It was not pretty. I put him on my clean shoulder, only for him to do it again. I am now completely soaking wet in baby throw up.I handed Noah to Allen and told him to go stand in the tub with him while I change. I figured if it was going to be projectile at least it would be easier to clean up in the tub. I go change, strip Noah down for the second time, and then go sit with him in our rocker. We knew he officially had a stomach virus. Not good....
Allen went and got towels and we wrapped our little man in a towel and had others to catch what we knew would be coming up. For the next 2 hours he would sleep about 10-20 minutes, wake up, immediately start crying and then the vomiting would continue. The worst I think was when he started to dry heave. It really broke out hearts! Allen went to bed about an hour into it, so it was just me and little man left to tough it out.
About 1:30 was the last time he got sick. I propped him up in the chair so I could get some water and decided to leave him there as I sat on the couch next to him since when he was sitting with me every-time I moved he woke up. He slept there until about 4, then I moved him to his bed since I felt like we were over the vomiting stage.
Tuesday he woke up with the other end of a stomach virus. This lasted most of the morning. I began to worry as the day went on because he of course was barely eating and I knew I hadn't changed a wet diaper all day. I Googled signs of Dehydration in infants and it said no wet diapers in 6 hours and excessive sleep/lethargic. Check and Check... I called the doctor. The nurse was very worried that he hadn't had a wet diaper and told me if he didn't have one in the next hour he would have to go to the ER. The thought made me tear up, while I was on the phone with her, however, THANK YOU JESUS, he wet his diaper! No ER!!
We pushed a lot of Pedialyte through him and he is definitely getting back to himself. He is still not eating as well as he normally does, but we can tell he is getting stronger every day.
I figure overall we have done really well, he is 8 months old and this is the first time he has been sick, it broke my heart not being able to fix it for him.
But I know this was the first of many times I will hurt because he is hurting and can't fit it. I love that baby!!

Daddy put him in his laundry basket. He is standing all by himself!

Friends

I was hanging out with some of our very close friends the other night when we starting reminiscing about how we met each other and what our first impressions were of each other.
This is always a funny thing to talk about with good friends, because generally there are always crazy things behind your first impressions. For example, my oldest friend Tosha... (Love you girly!!) We have known each other for 18 years and we often go back to the first time we met in 3rd grade, and it makes us laugh every single time! She was sitting at the desk in school and I walked in. This being the first day of school, you sit where you want/can. I was brand new to the school and later found out she was too. We were 8 years old and neither of us knew a soul in the school expect our siblings. She was sitting at the desk with her head resting in her hand and her face was all smooshed up because of her hand. I came up beside her to sit down and according to her, I gave her the nastiest look of all times as I pulled the chair out super slow. Now I can honestly tell you I have no idea what I was thinking about her but it is just funny that all these years later we talk about that day.
While we were talking about this the other night my friend, Larry gave me such a great compliment though when we started this whole conversion. He said that over the course of the past 7 years that he has known me, I haven't changed. I haven't converted myself to be like anyone else or to fit in. He said since the beginning, I have had the attitude of "this is me, here I am. Take it or leave it." And I have been thinking about what he said all week! As minor as it was it was just awesome to hear someone say that about you. I don't want to be known as someone who changes how I act based on the people that surround me. I have known TOO many people like that in my life and have always been annoyed with them. I am just so happy to know, that even if it is only Larry, that someone out there thinks this of me and it really made my week!
I love all my friends and I am so glad through all the ups and downs that I have been through in my life that God has me here surrounded by such an awesome group of people!

Little man bouncing away! :)  (it is really blurry b/c it was taken with my phone)

I had good Intentions

I woke up today with so much on my mind. I needed to get the house de cluttered, dusted, CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN our bathroom, wash and put away some laundry, and clean up the kitchen. What have I done today you ask?  I did unload and re load the dishwasher, semi attempt to wipe down the counter, picked up like 3 things on our bathroom counter, and washed a load and put away a load of laundry. That's all she wrote...
My body feels good, but my head has a lot of pressure in it (Thanks to my sweet Hubby who shared this head cold) and my eyes just want to shut. I am not tired at all, but my eyes don't appreciate being open today.
So I just took a hot shower and here I am...on the computer. I have thrown in the towel on cleaning today, because you know what? All my clutter, clothes, and durst (<~~I just made that word up by accident and I LOVE it!! Dirty Dust ha ha!) will be there waiting for me tomorrow, maybe with a little more added on top!

Yesterday my sweet little baby man turned 7 months old! In FIVE months he will officially not be considered an infant anymore! Oh my, 7 months of my life has never gone by so fast! If you are wanting time to fly by, have a baby because seriously, I can hardly believe still that this precious little boy is mine much less that he is 7 months old!
My BFF can attest to this, but in high school I always had the feeling deep inside that I would never be able to have kids and now I am on my way to having a 1 year old! Crazy how God has your life planned out!

Speaking of that, I went to Women's Community last night at church and we studied Genesis 37. Our Speaker Beth Lee is so awesome, and she spent some time talking about why God let Joseph walk like 65 miles, unknowing what was about to happen to him, to his brothers and then they ended up throwing him in a hole and selling him to traders. He let it happen because He saw the bigger picture. Joseph saved his families' lives when the famine came and had God not allowed him to be sold, they probably all would have died.  I love that thought, no matter where you are in life or what has happened or will happen, it is allowed for a reason and that reason is because God sees the bigger picture in your life.

Beth says it so much better and makes it really stick with you but I just like knowing He is here every step of the way!

You can't look at this picture and not smile!

Sweet Baby Man

Compliments

I was out and about last Friday in town with Noah. We had some errands to do before the weekend, one of which included us going to Office Depot to order some business cards. We park in the parking lot, I go around the car to get his stroller out of the back and load his car seat into the stroller and proceed into the store. This is when I hear " I love your jacket!"  I turn because you don't often hear a male voice yelling compliments about someone's apparel in the parking lot and discover the voice is talking to me. I smile and say thank you (to be nice), and then he proceeds to yell something about me being beautiful. I again smile and walk into the store.

Now you are probably thinking one of two things...1) "Wow that must have made you feel good!" or 2) "Really?? While you were pushing your child in a stroller???"

How did it make me feel? You ask....Well I have to say, I was among those thinking "Really?? With my son in a stroller you yell at me across a parking lot???"  
First off, lets start with the obvious. I understand that there are a lot of single moms out there, so me pushing the stroller is not necessarily a give away that I am married, but come on guys, if you want to give a lady a compliment, how about NOT screaming across the parking lot of an office supply store.
But this is the kicker! This guy, was A) not attractive, B) a smoker, and C) yelling at me from the passenger's side of his friend's MINI VAN....And not even yelling at me from his own window mind you, he has his friend roll down the driver's side window so he could yell over him.
Now lets take a stroll back to 1999 when TLC put it the best

"I don't want no scrub
A scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me
Hanging out the passenger side
Of his best friend's ride
Trying to holler at me"

ahmmm... I rest my case, Thank you TLC.

I did however call Allen to tell him about my experience and he responded with "Oh yeah!"
My response... "That's right! Your wife's still got it!" ha ha ha :)

Love and let go

Live and Let go, Love and let go(<<~~ That was actually a mistype but I liked it once I re-read it) I am not going into details, because it is too deep and there is just no need but I need to learn to let go. I hold on to things a little too tight and a little too long. It is time to set it free. I would have a lot less stress, it almost makes me wonder if I can let it go because then what would I worry about. As I type this I am literally tearing up, it is too much to hold on to anymore. I have tried before but this time I am really really going to try and be done with it. Little man needs me 100% and if my mind is on other things, I may miss something really great in his life. So I am D-O-N-E. I am not going to worry anymore, I am leaving it with the Lord, he will take it from me,
 "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God's peace which exceeds anything we can understand." Philippians 4:6-7
I am going to focus on making Noah's life all that it can be and all that mine wasn't. That way I hopefully won't look back and think "look at all that time I wasted in his life". And when he is older, I want him to remember me as the fun loving mom that I want to be, not the worrisome person that I loathe.
I am going to focus also on my relationship with this awesome, understanding, caring, funny man God has put in my life. I truly believe that he was made for me. He is everything I need in a spouse and couldn't have hand picked someone better.
And first and foremost I am going to focus on my relationship with God, I wouldn't say that I was brought up in church. There are those that were in church the first week of their lives and pretty much were there every time the doors were open...that was not me. We went to church sometimes but it was definitely not an every week thing and for the most part not even an every month or year thing. I was saved in 7th grade and got baptized when I was 22, 5 months after Allen and I got married. God placed a lot of special people in my life to teach me about him and ultimately bring me closer to him. I love that about God!
We are striving to make our home a Godly home and for Noah to grow up more like Allen did, involved in church and knowing He is The One. We have found a church home and we are really happy there. I am so excited because as horrible as this makes us sound, there are no more discussions on Saturday nights about whether we are going to church or not, we just both know we are going. And the best part is, we want to.
I love where my life is going. It doesn't matter where I came from, it matters where I go. And right now I really love where I am headed.

One of the first Pictures taken of us. 7 years ago!!

I love him!

Bad, Bad Blogger..

I am sorry friends, I have not been a very good blogger lady lately. I will try harder.
I guess the main reason for my non-blogginess is there is not much going on in our little lives right now. and I try to spare you from the mundane details of a household with a 6 month old... That's right Noah turned 6 months last week! Oh how that makes me sad!
He is getting so big and doing so many fun things. Allen is getting excited, Noah is coming into his territory now. I read an interesting fact about our little man (and other babies of his age). So here is your fun baby fact of the day, Currently and all the months prior, Noah has been unaware that Allen and I even EXIST when we are not with him! In his little mind, when he can't see us, we just disappear into the air! It is normally around 7-8 months that he realizes that we do in fact still live after we leave the room and that in turn means we are doing something with out him. Hence the beginning of separation anxiety. Crazy how their little minds work huh?
On to more pressing matters, Does anyone else watch Investigative Discovery?? Oh my word! I watch this a little too much, so much so in fact that Allen started making fun of me so I have tried to pull away from the channel a bit. But I am intrigued by all of these stories! However now I am so paranoid about..well everything. Example: My mom is dating a new guy, probably a very nice guy, I mean I met him, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. But that is just how all the stories on ID start! So now I feel like it is my daughterly duty to check on my mom about every 5.4 seconds to make sure this new guys hasn't killed her and put her in a trash can (<~~ an actual story in ID) I know that sounds A) very judgmental of the her new beau, and trust me it is nothing personal, it is just my brain working in overtime B) like I am making fun of someone's horrible tragedy, and please believe me when I tell you I am not! I am fully aware that all of these stories are real life accounts and somewhere out there, there is a family suffering, which is why I am all the more paranoid, because if it can happen to these people, it can happen to anyone. Bottom line is I need to stop watching that channel. But it just drags me in! I mean daytime TV is, lets face it, crap! But there is always something on that channel to watch! You want to know the sad part?? I am almost embarrassed to say this, I have watched it so much that I a lot of the shows on there are re-runs to me so soon I will have to find new forms of entertain while Noah is napping :)

Really?

Oh my goodness! Can I tell you how sad I am about this..Allen and I got married in September 2007. Once we got home from our honeymoon and things settled into a routine, I sent my passport in for my free name change. My new passport was issued in January of 2008. Fastfoward four months... We got Murray May 2008...Do you see where this is going?? Murray being the precious little puppy that he was

It hurts me too see him this little! I wish he could have stayed like this

I love this picture! :)

seriously...cutest puppy ever!! I'm not biased or anything though...

of course found my new passport and chewed it. He had a ton of toys but he chewed my passport! And not only did he chew it, he chewed it right through the corner where all the numbers start, SO I have to get a new one.

We are tossing around the idea of going on a vacation later this year and so I need to get my information submitted for a new one, I just looked it up online and it is going to cost $110!! Oh my!
This first of many expensive replacements I am going to have to face in my life... Oh the Joys!

Toys

So I know there are "Age ranges" on toys, and I get why, but for stuffed animals, that have absolutely no hard parts on them (including thier eyes, noses, etc) I dont get the "age range" and to be honest I dont really care to. I mean how I see it is if it is a toy and it makes my 6 month old son happy, even if just for a moment, and I know he can't hurt himself. I am going to let him play with it. I mean there are toys that are in the "birth and up" range and they are HARD plastic. With Noah, anything in his hand translates into a "hammer" of sorts because he immediatly starts slamming it down. Slamming the object down, I have no problem with, it is when he comes back up sometimes he has so much momentum going that he ends up hitting himself in the head with it. Now he is a strong kid, and rarley cries when he falls over or gets hit in the head by something but it just sounds like it hurts. So again I say, a stuffed animal with no plastic parts seems WAY less harmless to me than a hard plastic ring that he can slam into his little head.
Well for whatever reason, my little precious man is a little grouchy today. He doesn't want to be put down. Not even to change his diaper which I have said it before but let me reiterate that he LOVES to be naked so changing diapers are his favorite times of the day. I wish I felt the same way he does about his diaper changes but then again we are on different sides of the changing pad... So to be able to get a bottle ready and such I placed him in his swing, well in his swing he found his beloved stuffed frog. He grabbed it and started playing with it, but then he finds his favorite part of this toy...the tag... This I realize is not safe for him, but man does he love to chew (aka gum, since he has no teeth) on it. Am I just a horrible mother for allowing this?
I want to feel like I am not, but when the kid has 10 different teethers not to mention a TON of very "chewable" toys and he opts for the TAG on his frog... One has to wonder... I do check the tag and trust me that thing is sewed on and is not coming off, but I do feel bad that he likes to chew on tags on things. Just last night he was playing with a set of soft stacking blocks and the larger one has a tag and he immediately found it and put it in his mouth. You would think the tags have like flashing lights on them because he finds them with in seconds of handing him something with a tag on it.
And the saddest part is, is absolute favorite thing to put in his mouth is his paci clip! not the hard clip part obviously but the ribbon that holds it on,  it is always soaking wet from it being in his mouth.
Maybe I am telling all of this so when you see us out and about in town, you won't think "Good Lord, get that child a teether! He is eating the tag/paci clip"
So do not judge me when you see us, I have tried I really have. It makes him happy and if he is happy then the world is a happy place!

Plus you try telling this sweet little face "No"...