10 months!!

So today the bug is 10 months old!!! It's so hard to believe I've been a mom for that long!! And yet it's still just the beginning, there is so many more years to go, I'm so excited!! Noah is getting so big!  He can wear 12 -18 month clothes in tops, but poor kid seems to have short legs he's still in 9 month pants lol.  He's finally mastered crawling on all fours,  and he loves to stand.  He's getting better about cruising and has finally figured out how to sit back down once he's standing up!  He loves the dishwasher and being a boy.  His poor head has already suffered many bruises and bumps.  He also has discovered toilet paper, the toilet bowl.  He loves the animals and hates falling asleep.  We have as of yet to figure out how to help him sleep without having to cry for 30 minutes.  He doesn't sleep through the night anymore,  for whatever reason 1 am is the bewitching hour.  It makes for one tired mommy, but I'm determined to adjust and stop taking naps with my son and start being more active.  He is still nursing but loves people food, he's also shown me that I really got to work on my veggie diet.  I try really hard to make sure is diet is well rounded but I keep coming up short in the veggie category.  Noah still only has six teeth but he's almost 30 inches tall and weighs close to 21 pounds.  He's been sick a lot lately between colds, stomach bugs, and diaper rash.  Hopefully we can fix him by Christmas.  I can't wait until Christmas!!! 

3/4 of a year old or 9 months!!!!

I'm almost caught up!! I thought it would be easier just doing monthly posts as my son aged, but boy was I wrong!! I just can't seem to stay on top of all the stuff he's doing!! I should just start posting short blurbs when he does things lol.  Nine months was an exciting time for us in the stokes house hold, we learned to crawl, went to our first alumni game, and enjoyed our first thanksgiving as a family of three!! The alumni game was a little before nine months but close enough.  Noah had an outfit made and everything, but due to some seriously unfortunate circumstances no one really got to see it. However, we will try again next year.  Crawling and thanksgiving happened around the same time, along with a hideous stomach virus that knocked my boys down for the count.  Aside from that though Noah enjoyed a great thanksgiving spent with family that included two teenage boys who have him all the attention his little heart desired.  We also met yet again with our photographer for Noah's nine month photos, it actually took two tries as Noah is NOT a fan of the cold weather.  So, most of his pictures he's pouting or frowning at us as if to say, "ladies, there is no way I'm being cute today."  But heather Poe photography worked some serious magic as usual and my little man looks quite the stud!  I may have to do a post of just her pictures soon so you can see!!

Halloween as a family of 3!

So, this year we did Halloween as a family of three instead of two and the animals.  Casey and I aren't crazy about Halloween, but we pass out candy and dress up for friends parties.  This year it was a little more fun a little more exciting with Noah around.  We went to the pumpkin fest at church, took him around the neighborhood, and he even came to my friends annual Halloween party!!  He also got his first official piece of candy!  Which we had to give away cause we ran out of candy and two little kid stragglers showed up.  Halloween is much more fun with kids, I like dressing up with my child and can't wait to do it next year!  Noah actually had multiple Halloween outfits, his official outfit was Charlie Brown, his secondary outfit was curious George.  Curious George was more for my moms school for book character day.  All the kids dress up as their favorite book character and then there's a parade! To say my son was a big hit with them would be a HUGE understatement, it was like the red carpet with everyone's biggest fan hollering for them. 

Anniversary on the beach

So back in October Casey and I celebrated 4 years of marriage!! It's crazy to think we've been married that long!  Since, Noah's here and still nursing we decided a beach trip would be perfect.  For one it's free!! Aside from the cost of gas and food of course.  For two Noah could come along fairly easy, so to the beach we went.  It was amazing.  Slightly chilly in the morning, but it would warm up in the afternoon enough for us to paddle across and play in the shallow with Noah.  He's such a water baby, and loved army crawling through the water and eating the sand.  We enjoyed just being a family if three, and relaxing as much as one can with an 8 month old.

8 months!

So most of these next posts are catch up posts.  Somewhere along the way I got better at being a mom and worse at being anything else.  I'm having trouble finding a good balance of mom, housewife, cook, and nurse.  Luckily I only am a nurse two days a week, unluckily the other five days  I'm everything else.  But back to my 8 month old!! He's gotten so big so fast!! He loves to army crawl and keeps reaching for things to pull up, but he doesn't quite have the balance yet.  October was a busy month for the little man.  He went to the beach, book character day, and his first Halloween.  He still had 6 teeth, but he's finally getting more hair!! It blows in the wind sometimes!!  Noah's becoming much more social, and starting to enjoy people.  His favorites are of course his grandmothers.  While my mom was on fall break we all went on a field trip to a pumpkin patch and apple orchard.  Noah had a blast playing and touching the different pumpkins.  We even let him pick out his own mini pumpkins!! Which of course he promptly starting chewing but oh well.  

Leaving on a jet plane!

So, shortly after my little man turned seven months he experienced another first, his first plane ride!! Let me just tell you flying with a child who loves the boob more than the bottle not the easiest thing ever.  Especially if your little person is nosy and hates being under the nursing cover.  We made it though and he did amazing!! Other passengers even made a point of telling us how awesome he did!!  I only nursed once while flying to and from our destination, so I consider myself lucky.  He played for a while and then slept for a good portion of the flight as well.  Our final destination was Colorado to visit my godson for his second birthday.  Noah had a blast aside from the time change and cutting FOUR teeth at the SAME time.  We played at children's museums and zoos and hung out at the park, and a local brewery.  I would say his horizons were expanded sufficiently.  He ate everything in sight though!! I'm not sure if it was the teeth or the elevation but for a week my son was a bottomless pit!! He did however try a multitude of new foods.  Here's some picture from our adventures that week!

7 months and going strong

Noah turned 7 months on September 11, making it both a fantastic day as well as a day to remember all the children and families who were forever changed by September 11.  Noah however found it to be a regular day for him, full of learning naps and food.  Lots and lots of food!! My son loves to eat there is not a food out there he won't eat.  And he doesn't want any of that soupy purée stuff either he wants texture.  To date his newest foods are watermelon, cantaloupe, pickles, refried beans, and shredded chicken.  I'm glad he'll do shredded chicken because the thought of me pureeing meat is totally gross.  He has two teeth on the bottom right now and is working on two teeth up top too!! I've also lost my good little sleeper:(. He wakes up at least once during the night sometimes even twice.  I'm trying to let him cry it out and figure out how to self soothe himself,  but so far it's not working or he has way more will power than I do.  So, now I'm trying to find something for him to consider a lovey to help when he wakes up at night.  So far I haven't had much luck with that either.  I just keep telling myself that no matter what he will eventually figure out how to put himself to sleep, and until then all I can do is try to help him.  In other news my son loves to stand, sit, drink out of a cup or straw, and chew! He can now roll both ways and is trying to figure out how to crawl.  So far all he does is go backwards or in circles.  He loves his exersaucer,  and batting at all his toys.  Playing in the water at bath time is also super fun.  He talks all the time and even whispers.  He's changed so much all I can do is hold on and pray I can remember the details.

1/2 a year old!

Noah is 6 months already!  And let me tell you he is so different  from the scrawny little orange pumpkin I brought home!  First some stats, he's 18 lb 10 oz, 26 1/2 in long, and has a head circumference of 18 in!! Which means I have a supremely well fed big headed kid lol.  He's really starting to develop his own little personality and while he loves people he has to study you to really decide if you're truly an ok person.  He's working on sitting up by himself when you sit him.  He tried to roll from back to front but get stuck 3/4 of the way over.  He switches toys from hand to hand,  and can move himself in a 360 degree circle.  He loves food!! He has eaten everything we've given him and begged for more!! His foods include bananas, avocados, apples, plums, peaches, zucchini, green beans, sweet potatoes, and mangoes.  We still don't have him on a strict schedule but we do have a nightly bedtime routine.  He loves bath time, and watching people.  We go places and he just stares at them with his mouth hanging open.  His eyes are still blue and his hair is darkening up again.  We are still going strong with the breast feeding and hope to continue till his one year birthday.  He can wear anything from 6-9 month clothing.  He still loves to chew everything and he still loves to snuggle.  He laughs a little more freely but you still gotta work for it,  he loves to smile though :).  He still eats all his toys and really anything that comes in contact with his mouth.  He talks all the time and is quite expressive in his conversations with you.  He's growing so fast, and I can't wait for the next 6 months!

Backing up and catching up

So, this is going to be one of those catch all posts, so I can feel caught up with life again.  We've done so many things I feel like its hard to blog about them when they happen.  We've been to the beach, on boat rides, I turned 30, Noah's finally figuring out this whole bottle thing, and I went back to work!  Whew that was a lot lol.  We'll start with the beach first.  We go to the beach every year, and it's always a fairly laid back affair.  We put on our bathing suits in the morning and they usually don't come off again till late afternoon or even dinner time. We knew this year would be different since Noah was only 4 mths old, but as with everything about being a first time parent you just don't realize how different.  The drive to and from the beach was probably the worst.  It never failed that the last 30 minutes of the drive my son screamed the whole time and trying to give him the bottle was the biggest failure ever!! The beach itself though was great, beautiful weather, no seaweed, and as always not a ton of people.  Noah loved playing in the water and took many a floaty nap.  We couldn't ever seem to quite get there at a time when he was super awake lol.  But he touched the ocean and floated around the lake in his life jacket.  He survived the annual outlet trip,  and while it was a different trip this year it was a good different.  So good in fact we're going back in October for our anniversary.  Onto boat rides and birthdays these kind of go hand in hand.  Noah has been thouroughly introduced to the boating life, unfortunately we have as of yet to get him in the river.  With all the rain this year it been a little chilly for his tiny bum.  So, the big 3-0 I know most people have a huge celebratory party but I didn't really want to, my original want was to go somewhere out of country because Casey turned 30 this year too.  Didn't really happen with a baby, but there's always 31.  So, I spent my birthday on the boat with family we grilled out layed out,  and I got a good solid two hours of swim time while Noah napped!! That was probably the best because I miss swimming a lot.  Then I got together with a small group of friends left Noah with a babysitter and had a night out.  Dinner and even a small glass of wine, just what I needed to feel like an adult again.  So that pretty much sums up our summer!

5 month craziness

So Noah's been five months for a while but I got behind again, and he is changing so quickly some days it's all I can do to keep up with him.  He's getting so big!! He loves talking to his toys and he really sounds like he's telling them a story or carrying on some kind of conversation.  He's kinda sorta given up the whole rolling over thing.  Now he's to busy talking and chewing on anything close to his mouth. We are working on starting food with him, so far he has loved everything!! He also likes to try to sit up when you play with him.  He doesn't sit on his own per say, he kinda face plants, but it's still pretty cute lol.  

Summertime and the livin' is breezy

Summertime in the stokes household used to consist of spending every day we could by the pool with alcoholic beverage in hand working on our tan for the beach.  This year I think we've made it to the pool once and we might have stayed two hours.  Our summertime has changed since the bug arrived  no more alcoholic beverages, for me at least, and no more just laying by the pool for hours on end.  I wouldn't change any of it though.  I love watching our little man learn about the world.  He even likes the water. We have so much more stuff to take to the pool though its funny.  Where as it used to be just just one bag now it's three and a cabana for the bug so he doesn't get burned.  It's just amazing how our life has changed and I can't wait to see what next summer has in store

Happy Father's Day!!

So today is Casey's first Father's Day!  It's hard to believe the geeky boy I fell in love with and married is now the father to our little bug.  I can imagine a lot of things in this life, but Casey being the dad that he is was something I never imagined.  I always knew he would be a good dad, but it was more in the I'm the fun dad way ya know?  I never imagined that he would be the loving caring father that he's become.  He's generous and thoughtful and truly delights in his son.  He lives to make his son smile or give his silent chuckle.  He works tirelessly at finding ways to calm our son down when he's pitching a fit, or when he's trying to get our son to take a bottle.  It amazes me the patience he shows to our son, patience I honestly didn't know he had.  He's so far surpassed what I had thought our little family would be like when we became parents, I feel over whelmed at times.  Especially considering that at times Casey did not have the best father figure.  I love the man my husband has become as a father and can't wait to watch him continue to grow as a father, husband, and leader of our home.  Happy first Father's Day Casey!! Noah and I couldn't do it without you. 

4 months old sqee!!

And by sqee I mean that is my sons newest noise, at a very ear piercing octave that he thinks is just great.  The rest of us not so much.  So, the bug is four months old today, and has changed soo much.  He can now roll over from his belly to his back!! He rolls both left and right, not all the time but he can do it.  I think the fact that he can roll both ways sometimes confuses him because he can't decide which way to go.  He also scooches himself around on his play mat.  He eats everything!! His toys, his hands, his carseat, my husbands nose, everything!! He's back to sleeping through the night, and wakes up anytime between 6:30-7:30.  He's still a snuggler, and he still has issues with taking a bottle.  Hopefully he gets it soon, July 7th is coming quick.  He smiles for us all the time but is still hesitant about sharing his smiles freely.  We also still have as of it to make it through life group and church without being called out cause he's having a meltdown.  He can wear 6 month clothes and weighs approximately 16 pounds and 5 ounces via a cat scale at the vet lol.  He grabs toys with both hands and can pull them towards his mouth, and let go of them and bat them away.  Traveling in his car seat is still hit or miss sometimes he does great other times we just scream and scream.  We leave for the beach Saturday so pray he develops a sudden mad love for his carseat.  Time to leave you with some pictures of my 4 MONTH OLD!!!