Happy B-day Babe!

Today is my hubby's 27th birthday. Unfortunately, he had a pretty uneventful birthday. We are working like crazy to get our house ready to put on the market by the 1st of next week so he spent his day in the bathroom floor replacing the flooring. He did get birthday cards from Noah and I, and I made him an awesome dinner and one of his favorite desserts.

My birthday was on the 26th so we went out to lunch for our birthdays on Wed. My sis, M, watched Noah for us. Thanks M!! We went to Red Robin and it was really good. And we spent the majority of my b-day getting more supplies to finish up the many projects we have going on at the house. Do we know how to celebrate or what?! We have promised ourselves that once the house sells we will go away for a weekend to really celebrate our birthdays. I am really looking forward to that.

This is my favorite picture of all time. When I look at this picture of my hubby I remember falling in love with him. I see the father that I knew back when we where dating that he would be. And, I just think he is the best looking guy!


Baby, I love you so so much. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

All I Want for Christmas Is My 2 Front Teeth

Noah got his top front teeth this week. He got his bottom front 2 back in October when we went to Florida so I have been waiting for the top front 2 since then. Just like the bottoms, the right one poked through 1st and 2 days later the left one followed. The tops didn't go as easily as the bottoms. He was definitely hurting with these and he let me know it.

It took me forever to get this shot. The light is reflecting off of his left tooth so it is harder to see but it is there. Isn't that the cutest double chin you have ever seen?!

Noah's 1st Christmas

We woke up at about 8:00 this morning. I changed and fed Noah and then we started to open presents. Chris and I helped Noah open all his presents 1st. He wasn't all that interested in opening them so we did most of that. We got him some of the classic toys like the stacking donuts and we got him some toys that he will need to grow into. Between us going a little overboard this year and his Grandma, Noah should be set on toys for a good while. Well, at least until his 1st birthday in April. heehee.



After all of Noah's presents where open Chris opened his. He got a surround sound stereo system, slippers, gloves, the Transformers movie, and this pic of Noah to go on his desk at work. Noah is wearing one of Chris' company T-shirts.



I opened presents last. I got earrings, slippers, thank you cards, subscriptions to 5 different magazines, Willow Tree figurines, this really cool candle holder, and the new Carrie Underwood cd (which is great by the way).

After opening all the presents our living room was a wreck! Noah crawled right past his mountain of new toys and straight for the pile of wrapping paper and ribbon. Typical!



Noah was cracking us up because he kept making this face all morning. Doesn't he look like a little baby bulldog?! Too cute!


All that excitement can really wear a little guy out.


Merry Christmas ya'll! I hope your day was as great as mine.

Isn't It Funny The Things You Remember?

When I was little my mom had these glasses that we would use only on Thanksgiving.



I remember sitting at the "little kids" table, drinking milk from these glasses and feeling so big and fancy. I would even try to hold it like I had seen people do on TV. We haven't used these in YEARS, ever since we all grew up and started having families of our own. I remembered these as my parents were moving and told my mom that I would really like to have them someday. She surprised me with them today. I am so excited to have them. They are so not fancy but I love them because of the memories. Since our family is so big now we can't use them at Thanksgiving. So, I thought that I would start a new tradition for my family. From now on, these "fancy" glasses are going to grace the Hozian table at Christmas breakfast. Picture Noah up at the table in his Christmas pj's, legs swinging, his favorite Christmas present in one hand and one of Grannie's fancy glasses full of milk in the other hand. I can't wait!

Thanks Mom, for the glasses and for the memories!

Pre-Christmas Festivities

My in-laws came over tonight to open presents. We had a good time getting goodies and eating desserts. Noah made out like a bandit big time. He got this crazy cute piggy bank from his Aunt Ashley, Uncle Mike and cousin Azrael. He got a big stuffed red dog, a Tigger, a Thomas the train backpack, 2 outfits, and his own little chair from his Grandma. He didn't really want anything to do with opening the presents but he sure did like what was inside. His favorite thing was the chair.

My Popi

I wanted to post today but couldn't quite find the time throughout the day. It is now almost midnight and I can't sleep so I thought I might as well get up and do something.

Today is my Dad's birthday so he has been on my mind. I count him among the greatest blessings in my life. He has been there for me at every point in my life, even at the times when I didn't want him there. He has never judged me and always loved me. He is, by far, the best listener I know. He listens much and says little. He is one of those people who knows exactly what you need to hear and isn't afraid to tell you the truth. He has worked so hard his whole life to take care of a huge family and I have never heard him complain about it. Not once.

He is so respectful and gentle to my mother. I can't remember a time that I have heard him raise his voice to her. I grew up seeing them kiss everyday when he got home from work. Not just a "Hi. Bye" kind of kiss but, an "I hated being away from you for 8+ hours" kind of kiss. I remember that it became kind of a joke for us kids to act like we were sicked out when they would kiss but, looking back on it, that made me feel safe. I knew then and I know now that my parents are completely in love. Not a whole lot of people can say that about their parents anymore.

My dad didn't have the easiest of upbringings but he decided early on what kind of dad he was going to be and I bet he exceeded his expectations, although he wouldn't think so. It was from him that I learned what a father should be like. It was from him that I learned what a husband should be like. It was from him that I learned what a worthy priesthood holder should be like. I can remember once when I was really sick. It was early in the morning and I knew that Dad only had a little bit of time left to sleep and so I didn't want to wake him up for a blessing. I decided to lay on the floor outside his bedroom so that I could get a blessing from him as soon as he came out. I don't know how long I laid there but finally he came out. I started to cry and told him I needed a blessing. He scooped me up and held me close and asked me why I didn't just wake him up. I told him why and he took my face in his hands and told me never to wait again. He told me that nothing, not even sleep, was more important then me. And that is how I have felt my whole life; important, loved, cherished, respected.

It is so cool seeing my brothers as fathers now. I see Dad in them. I see Dad when I see them laughing with their kids. I see Dad when I see them teaching their kids. I see Dad when I see them snuggling their kids. I can still remember the way my Dad smelled when he would come home from work or church. Remember the Old Spice guys?

I could go on and on about him. Dad, I am sure Mom will have you read this so, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Thank you for being my Dad! (and try not to be too embarrassed by this okay?!)

P.S. Today is my niece, T's, birthday too. She is 1! I can't believe it. I love her so much and I am really gonna miss seeing her every Sunday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY T!!!!

Advice Needed

I have debated on whether I should post this or not, but I have no idea what I am doing and I could really use some advice from all you professional moms out there. So, if anyone is offended by the subject matter, sorry!

I want to breastfeed Noah until he is 1 year old but I also want to incorporate solids. I have been feeding him oatmeal cereal mixed with a veggie at night and breastfeeding him a little bit after the cereal. I think what I want to do is get to a point here pretty soon where I am only breastfeeding in the morning and at night. But, I have no idea how to go about doing that or even if that is a good thing to do. I am so clueless. I have read a ton of articles online about it but they were all pretty vague. So, I am going to shoot off a bunch of questions and I hope you guys can help.

1. How do I start taking away breastfeed meals?
2. At a meal that has replaced breastfeeding, how much solid food do I give him? Tonight I feed him a Tbsp of cereal mixed with 1/2 a 2.5oz thing of peas and 1/2 of a 2.5oz thing of a fruit. And he was still opening his mouth and fishing for more. Is that too much? Not enough?
3. He is 8 mos old now. Can he have juice? If so, could I bring juice and some of those baby puff cereal things to tide him over at church instead of breastfeeding during Sunday school?
4. Does it matter when I feed him fruits and when I feed him veggies? Like, should I be feeding him fruit in the afternoon and veggies at night or does it matter at all?
5. When it comes time for me to wean him completely how do I keep from getting to full? Because if I breastfeed him or pump to get relief doesn't that just keep the milk supply going?
6. Like I said before, I think I would like to get to a point soon were I am only breastfeeding in the morning and at night. Is it okay to do that? I mean, will he be getting what he needs from the breast milk if I only do it 2 times a day?

Thinking about the whole weaning process kind of stresses me out. Can you tell?! :]

Anyway, I know there are probably a ton of different ways to go about this but any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

No Thanks, Santa!

I forgot to tell you about Noah's 1st experience with Santa. Chris and I decided to take Noah to get his picture taken with Santa on Saturday. Everyone told us to take him to the Santa at Parkway Place Mall because his beard is real so that is where we went. The line wasn't very long at all so I was stoked. Noah has always done really well with strangers. In fact, I can never go into Wal-Mart without at least 2 or 3 people stopping me to tell me how cute he is and Noah has started to flirt with these people. He will drop his head to the side and give them a big smile. When they laugh he will do it again, milking it for all he is worth. So, I wasn't worried about his reaction to Santa. I figured we probably wouldn't be able to get him to look away from Santa but I thought that would still be a cute pic. Our turn came and I introduce Noah to Santa and, as I suspected, Noah just stared at him with his mouth hanging open. Chris, the photographer, and I tried to get Noah to look at us by making fools of ourselves like good parents do. As soon as he saw me it's like he put 2 and 2 together and realized, "Hey, I don't know this hairy guy and my mommy is WAY over there!" His face started to crumble and it was down hill from there. I "rescued" him and got him to calm down. Then I decided to try it one more time. The minute I let go of him he let out this loudest yell and you know how it echos in there. So, we decided he wasn't a big fan of Santa. We will try again at the ward Christmas party this weekend. I'm curious to see how he reacts. My sis, D, said we should have taken the pic with him crying. That would have been funny but, oh well!

Pink Eye, Snot, B-day Present, and More

Saturday morning I woke up and my left eye was kind of irritated. It was red and felt like I had sand in it. I bothered me all day but I didn't really think anything about it. Sunday morning when I woke up my eyelids where stuck together. GROSS! I cleaned it up but my eye was swollen, red and weepy all day. DOUBLE GROSS! I went into the doc on Monday and she told me what I already knew, pink eye! I have to put these drops in my eyes like a million times a day for the next week. And, I am one of those spastic kind of people who can not help but blink frantically when I know something is coming for my eyes so you can imagine how well 2 drops in each eye every 2 hours is going.

To make matters worse, Noah is sick. He is so snotty he has to come up for air when he is eating. I stink at using that snot sucker thing but I try my best. It is the saddest thing to hear him snoring up a storm when he is trying to sleep. He was running a fever all day Monday too but, thankfully, no fever today.

The 18th is my niece, T's, 1st B-day and we have all been invited over to celebrate with her on Sunday. Noah and I got her some bows for her gorgeous raven hair. I got out some scrap wrapping paper and ribbon and had it laid out in the floor. Noah helped me pick out everything I used to wrap the present. The 1st piece of wrapping paper he tried to eat is what I used to wrap it. Then he tried to eat a piece of white and pink ribbon. It didn't go with the paper but Noah felt strongly about it because when I took it away from him he threw a fit. So, on went the ribbon. Then he chose a piece of blue ribbon. Again, it didn't go with the paper but I think he was just wanting to counter balance the pink. Then he decided to go for a dramatic flare and he chose a piece of gold, shiny ribbon and on it went too. I wrapped it all up and put it under our tree and started to clean up. Noah, apparently, was not done with the present. He crawled over and picked it up and started to beat himself over the head with it, which he found hilarious by-the-way. Then he added a little love slobber to it to make it extra special. He really loves T!



Before I found out I was having a boy, I REALLY wanted a girl. I love my Noah more then I can express and wouldn't trade him for a million girls though. But, seeing the pictures of Carly and Beth's little girls has reminded me of how bad I want a girl. So, on a whim, I decided to play dress up with Noah a little bit. We were "testing" T's ribbons out for her. Chris is gonna kill me when he sees this. Heck, Noah is going to kill me for this when he gets older but people are always telling me he is too pretty to be a boy. What do ya think?

Makin' Tracks

Today Noah and I went over to what will be our new house. I had to meet the appraiser so while I was waiting for him I started to sweep the floors. Then I decided to vacuum all of the rooms. The carpet is new so when I vacuumed I made those awesome tracks in the carpet. I had Noah in the play yard but he got bored with that real quick like and let me know it at the top of his lungs. So, I just put him down in the floor where he could crawl around and I thought that I would just vacuum around him. He had another idea. As I vacuumed he just followed me around everywhere. As I moved from room to room he would follow me. If I was cleaning the closet he would try to get in there with me. What was so funny is that when I was done and went back thru the rooms to make sure I hadn't missed something I noticed this weird pattern in the carpet and it took me a minute to figure out what it was. There was a definite trail left in the carpet where Noah had crawled around following me. I wished I had had my camera on me. It was so funny. You could see his little hand prints everywhere and then long drags from his legs. Is it weird that I found that cute?