Chunky Monkey!

Stef mentioned how chunky Noelle was as a baby, especially considering her slenderness now.  She really was a chubby baby!!

This is my favorite picture of her that shows just how chubby she was at almost 6 months old!

She was 18 pounds at her 6 month appointment!!

I don't recall just how old she was when it happened, 4 months maybe, but she was so chubby in her neck that she got a yeast infection in her neck folds at one point. And I was constantly using lotrimin in her diaper region folds. LOL

Happy 3rd Birthday to Noelle

I am so excited that Noelle is now 3 years old!!  These 3 1/2 years have been by far the hardest in my life and I am ready to move on.  I love my little girl with all my heart and can't imagine life without her, but it has NOT been an easy journey to this day.

Here is the recap of Noelle's life so far:

-While pregnant with her I was sick in the evenings for a couple months at the begining.  I am thankful my body waited till evening though, since I was working 50+ hours a week (just M-F, not counting weekend jobs) at the time taking care of two barely 2 year old boys and an infant.  I spent the rest of the pregnancy with the WORST vericose veins ever (where they really shouldn't be).  It pretty much felt like I had just given vaginal birth, only it lasts for months and months.

-Her entry into the world was fairly quick and easy.  My water broke about 2 pm, we got to the hospital about 6pm, painful contractions about 7pm.  Only 2 1/2 hours of pain and a couple pushes later we had a gorgeous little girl.  She was 6 lbs 9 ounces and 18 inches long.  After Adam who was 8 1/2 pounds and 21 inches she was tiny.  Everything we brought to the hospital for her was way to big.  Justin had to go home and bring back newborn clothes.

-She was strong willed and stubborn from the get go and really only nursed once in the hospital.  When we got home she would scream and push away from me every time I tried, and that was only when we could get her to wake up and try.  Nothing woke that kid, I joke that she slept the entire first 3 weeks of her life!  We quickly switched her to a bottle with formula and the very tiny amount of milk I pumped.  I never could get more than an ounce at a pumping, and that is the total from both sides (it was the same with Adam).

-She could even sleep through bathtime!!

-She was a fairly easy baby those first few months.  Or at least nothing awful sticks out in my head.  She was sleeping through the night by 2 months.  This was great since it allowed me to go back to work doing a temp job that was caring for newborn twins overnight.

-Right at 4 months we noticed her eyes were not right and just happened to have her 4 month well check a few days or so later.  They sent us to the opthalmologist to be looked at.  We weren't able to get in for well over a month.  All during that time she got grumpier and grumpier.  She became VERY attatched to us and always wanted to be held by Justin or I.  We believe that since she was having more and more trouble using her eyes she was depending on her other senses, mainly scent.  Therefor she needed to be close to us in order to feel safe and secure.  When she finally got in to see Dr. King, her opthalmologist, her eyes were so awfully crossed that I had a hard time even getting good pics of her.  We had to start patching her eyes right away.  It did NOT go well!!  She had to be patched 4 hours a day, or something like that, but ended up being patched all day because she would cry and scream the entire time it was on.

April 18, 2007

May 30, 2007

4th of July 2007

-Since patching was not helping the crossed-ness of her eyes she had eye muscle surgery at the end of August, she had just turned 7 months old.  Surgery went well for her and was 80% effective.  She became a very happy baby who loved to play!  She was no longer attatched to just Justin and I!

August 29, 2007 - after her eye muscle surgery

late October - her eyes look so much better

-At 9 months she got her first pair of glasses and did great with them.  I would even go so far as to say she loved them!

-Just after Noelle turned a year old she really started to show her personality.  She became very hard to discipline, especially since we were used to a very easy child who just did/didn't do whatever you told him to/not to.  We put her in a toddler bed soon after she turned a year, BIG MISTAKE!  The first week was great, then she refused to stay in bed.  We also took her off the bottle near the same time, she spent a couple weeks drinking near to nothing.  She had also spent several months being sick constantly, which led to the removal of her lovey, who she sucked on for comfort.  The time from when she turned a year till now have been one big battle after another.  Sleeping time has been a big one, she just won't stay in bed.


-At 2 1/2 she got her 'big' girl glasses!

-She was also wearing underwear and having very few accidents August, September, and October.  Then I went back to work (I had been off those 3 months) and she decided to take Lexie as a little sister and do the regressing thing.  We went back to pull-ups and went about our days as if it hadn't happened.  I knew she would wear underweear again when she was ready.  And I am happy to say she informed me today, on her third birthday, that she is ready to wear underwear again!!  She had been slowly using the potty more and more over that last couple weeks.

-At 3 years old, barely, she is getting Bifocals.  Yes, you read that right.  My little girl with 20/20 vision will be wearing Bifocals starting this Friday.  They will be lined and noticeable.  Her eyes are crossing worse when up close to what she is looking at than when farther away from the object.  Hopefully she will 'use' the new lenses properly and eventually outgrow it as we have always been told she should.

-Now that Noelle is 3 years old things are really starting to look up for her and us.  She is finally learning to follow directions, it helps that we have learned how to speak to her effectively.  We really have to work hard with her on disipline and we can NOT take easy days away from it.  Right now the big thing we are working on is being respectful and not rude.  It's actually going great since we now know how to interact with her better.  I am so looking forward to the next year as she grows, matures, and learns.

Getting started on resolution #3

One of my resolutions for the year is to "Spend less time on the computer and more time on the house." 

Here's part of the reason why:

Okay, so the bed is normally cleaned off.  I just happened to be getting ready to go scrapping with a friend the next day.  BUT, the table seems to always look this way anymore.  Note the many boxes too!  They are all under the table usually but should really not be there at all.

The table is a 6 footer made of hard plastic that is supposed to be used for my scrapbooking.  Clearly it's been a while since that has been possible.  My first goal is to finish unpacking the 5 boxes under it and then figure out how to organize the top so it is useful again.  I also have to plan a way to keep it cleared of paper clutter and other things that don't belong.

This is along the same wall, just opposite end of the room and the desk faces the opposite way.  There are 5 boxes, 6 tubs, a laundry basket half full of stuff, and the big mesh toy box full of stuff.  When J took this picture I was on the phone with a friend while trying to find something in the tiny filing drawer in the desk.  I could barely move back there, and that was after I had moved stuff out of the way!

I need to unpack the 5 boxes and get everything put away in its spot or get rid of it.  A couple of the tubs are clothes the kids are currently outgrowing.  One tub has stuff like lotions, shampoos, conditioners, etc that I am getting rid of.  I would like to donate it somehow, but some of it has been opened and even used a little.  The rest of it is stuff I have cleaned out of the kids' rooms and need to sort through to freecylce and/or store for next time.  Eventually this desk will hold my computer and also allow me to do bills and other important household business at it.  Again though I need a way to actually keep it cleaned off and organized.

I am getting started on this all tonight and am assuming it will take till pry the end of next week to actually accomplish (maybe longer, but that's my goal!).  Wish me luck!!

New Year's Resolutions Are Not For Me...

...usually.

I don't actually recall EVER having made a New Year's Resolution.

This year is going to be different though.  There are so many areas of my life I need to work on and now is as good a time as any to start.  So here goes:

-Eat healthier and only when hungry.  For me this really means to stop eating mindlessly.  I am the kind of person who is constantly moving, I really can't sit still!  (Justin hates it AND both kids are the same way.)  This includes having my mouth busy, which means I eat even when I'm not actually hungry.  I solved this for a little while by chewing gum anytime I wasn't truly hungry.  But for the last month or so it hasn't been working.  I have been chewing it so hard and working it around so much that I little by little swallow tiny pieces until the gum is all gone.  I am actually embarrassed to admit I swallow gum, but yes, I do.  I think I have been doing a great job so far this week!

-Exercise semi-regularly.  I have NEVER actually exercised on a regular basis.  But I have finally reached the age that it matters.  And I do feel much better about myself when I do.  Fortunately for me my bosses just got an awesome treadmill right before Christmas.  So on M, T, and Th I really have no excuses not to use it.  It's actually kinda relaxing to do since I take a magazine and read it while walking.  I do hope to work my way up to jogging soon though, in which case I won't be able to read at the same time.  But I think I will listen to books on tape when that happens.  I also want to try to use the Wii Fit step program on the days I do not work.

-Spend less time on the computer and more time on the house.  Very self explanitory.  I spend way too much "mindless" time on the computer.  Usually playing on Facebook.  My house has really been neglected because of it.  I used to be a very organized and clean person, but not so much anymore.


That's really it and plenty to start with!  Wish me luck!  I would love to know what your New Year's Resolution is!!

The Holiday In Review

Every year we (Stef, Sheri, and I) gather sometime the week before Christmas to bake the cookies and other treats we all love.  This year both kids came with, in the hope they would actually want to help.  No such luck.  But they were playing so well I really didn't mind.  I commented several times how happy I was they were behaving so well...then Adam came in and said Noelle had drawn blue all over her face.  Yes, she did have blue chalk all over her mouth.  But I also found out she ATE the chalk!  I seriouslly scrubbed her teeth with an adult toothbrush and paste for at least 5 minutes and there was still a tiny bit of blue in her molars!!  That was bad enough, but then all hell broke loose when I saw she had drawn with the chalk on my parents white living room wall.  I was SOOO upset!!  It's one thing for her to behave in such a way at my house, but to do it at someone else's made me so mad, angry, and sad (all at once) that I had to usher her out of the house towards home ASAP or I was going to let loose the tears.  (She did have to clean the mess up first, which did NOT fully come off.  With me trying really hard not to cry the whole time.)  Now, if you know me very well you know that I don't cry easily.  It takes extreme frustration or extreme pain to made the tears come out.  Unfortunately Noelle causes me extreme frustration way more than you could imagine.  Not a good way to start off Christmas week.  :(

Noelle loves men!!  Uncle Derrick is by far her favorite uncle, and she has 5.  She attatched herself to him right away Christmas morning.  He even let her help with the fruit for brunch.  After an iffy start she was even in Grant's lap (Jenna's guy).

Oh wonderfull, another weapon!!  LOL  Thanks Uncle Merle!

The kids, and us, really enjoyed our time with Greg and Michele over Christmas.  We can't wait to see them again this summer.

Thanks everyone for a memerable end to the year!!

Thankful

Every Christmas we ask to receive memberships or gift certificates to things that allow us to get out of the house and have fun as a family.  The kids have tons of toys already and we aren't home THAT much to be honest.  We are so thankful this year to have had our Denver Zoo membership renewed for another year and to have been gifted with a HUGE gift certificate to our local recreation center, The Trails.  Our families are so generous and giving and we really appreciate it!!

The kids and I went to The Trails today and had a tour so we could take advantage of everything they offer.  And we also went swimming, FOR FREE!!  Apparently they give you your first visit free.  What a nice surprise.  The facilicy is very nice and I really liked the layout.  They offer everything you could want there, even massages!!  The only thing I was iffy on was the family locker room.  Where as it had many rooms to change in, it only has 2 stalls with a shower and toilet in them.  I'm pretty big on rinsing off right away after swimming since we all suffer very dry skin.  It won't be a big deal when J is with us since he can take Adam into the Men's and I can take Noelle into the Women's locker room.  But on those days when I take the kids on my own I will be really lucky if we get to shower off before heading home (BTW, we didn't get to today.)

I plan on getting Adam into swim lessons in Feb. or March so that he is a little more independent in the water this summer.  It's odd that he is no longer confident in the water.  2 summers ago when we lived at the apartment he was VERY good in the water and was pretty much swimming, or at least able to keep himself above water.  Today I really had to convince him to even try to put his ears and head in the water.  After about 2 hours he was doing better though. 

I am going to hold off on lessons for Noelle until she turns 4 and they will do her more good.  She is very comfortable in the water already and knows how to keep her head up, mouth closed, and allow us to dunk her without (usually) taking in water.  What I would actually like to do for her is get her into a dance class.  They have a pre-ballet class for 3 year olds.  It would really do her good to have the instruction of another adult and to have to follow their rules and guidlines, no choices offered.

We also had the chance to take advantage of our Denver Zoo membership this month.  Included where two free passes for their Zoo Lights.  All we had to pay was $3 admission for Adam!!  The weather cooperated so we didn't freeze like we did 2 years ago.  The kids really enjoyed the animated displays.  Adams fav was the Dragon one.

We warmed up by going through Tropical Discovery.

As can be seen by the pics I had the kids wear full winter gear.  They didn't mind, and at least they were warm!

We had such a great holiday season and I'm excited to see what the next couple months will bring, starting with Noelle turning 3!!  Stay tuned for my thoughts on that!!