Here We Go....Again

Sorry I haven't posted more pics yet but we have been dealing with some jaundice issues. Noah had jaundice pretty bad and had to be treated with several sessions of phototherapy. Eden, apparently, wants to be just like big brother. She started the therapy on Monday. For those who don't know, you have to strap your baby into this straight-jacket like thing that is attached to a light bed and they can only come off for feedings and diaper changes and only up to 30 min. at a time.

I ended up having to put the bed in the play yard because Noah kept trying to liberate his poor sister. He was determined to keep her company though. He would run off and play for a bit but he was always really good to come back and check up on her.

She has had to get countless heel sticks to check her jaundice levels. Noah has been present for several sticks and he gets very disturbed by it. Once we were in a room just around the corner from the lobby where Noah was waiting with my mom. When he heard her start to cry I could here him moan, "ooh,ooh,ooh". Mom said she had to stop him from coming to find her.
He also got a bit upset when he say me burp her for the first time. He came up to me, grabbed my hand and told me, "No, no!" I explained to him that I was being soft and that seemed to ease his mind a bit although he kept his eye on me after that. Now he will come up and lightly tap her on the back to help the bubbles move along.

We had a great Christmas morning. I was so happy to be out of the hospital and home with my little family. We let Noah open all of the presents, even mine and Chris's. He was so funny because he would tear off little pieces and hand them to me one by one. He got a good haul this year. We didn't get him a lot of presents, like we did last year, but we got him a few things that we knew he would really like.

Since we didn't get home from the hospital on Christmas Eve until after Noah was asleep, we opened out Christmas PJ's 1st thing Christmas morning. This is my favorite picture of the whole day.

And to finish off the marathon post I will post just some random cuteness of Eden.

What A Week

We have had an insanely eventful week here at Hozians, Inc. I have a ton of pics but only a few moments to post so I will get those up later.

Monday Dec. 22 Eden made her arrival. I went in for my normal weekly appt. and found out I had gained 4 lbs in 5 days and my blood pressure was off. My doc was concerned that I was developing preeclampsia. Combine that with the fact that I almost had to have a C-section with Noah and my doc and I decided it would be best to induce. So, I headed over to the Labor and Delivery at Crestwood. The labor and delivery went well except when my epidural wore off and I felt every contraction as I dilated from 5-9 centimeters. All I'm gonna say is, OUCH!! But, I was able to get the epidural redone before it came time to push so I was thankful for that. Three pushes and Eden was here.

Tuesday Dec. 23 Noah met his lil' sis for the 1st time. At first he wasn't too sure about her because I was feeding her when he arrived. But, by the time he left he couldn't get enough of her.

Wednesday Dec. 24 we made it home at about 9:30 pm. Noah was already in bed (my fab sis, Misty, had brought him home and put him to bed for us). I had been missing him like crazy. My equally fab sis, Dawn, had kept him for us while we where in the hospital. He loves it out there on the farm. He probably didn't miss me at all.

Thursday Dec 25 we had a great Christmas morning together, even though Chris and I where basically zombies. Noah loved opening presents and wanted to share all the bows and ribbons with Eden. That night we headed out to Dawn's for the annual family dinner out there. I had my first postpartum breakdown. It was really quite dramatic but it was all Misty's fault. She asked me how I was. Who does that?! Hee!

Friday Dec 26 I turned the big 3-0. My hubby had planned a B-day party for me. Misty put it best when she said that he was sweet enough to throw me a party and smart enough to bring my sisters in on the planning. So, once again, we headed out to Dawn's for some fun. No emotional breakdowns this time.

Saturday Dec 27 we headed out to Bridgestreet to do a little shopping and to get Eden in the sun because she was looking yellow to me. We got Chris 4 pairs of pants for $40! I think I over did it though because I was pretty sore the rest of the day and the next. So much for being Superwoman.

Sunday Dec 28 was Chris's birthday. He reminded me on several occasions throughout the day that he was only 28 and he couldn't believe he was married to a 30 year old. Urg! We had a great day just hanging out and being together.

Life is good!

SHE'S HERE!

Surprise! Eden arrived early.
Dec. 22 @ 8PM
6 LBS 13 OZ
20 IN

Title Search

I need a new title for the ole' blog. I got nuttin'!! I seriously can't come up with anything even remotely cute or clever. So, I am tossing it out to all of my cute and clever pals out there in the blogosphere. Any suggestions?

Caught Green Handed!

For FHEs this month we have been talking about the people that played a role in the event of the Savior's birth. Last week we talked about the wise men. This week we talked about the shepards. Noah enjoys looking at the pictures and I usually have some sort of craft or activity to do afterward.

Tonight's activity was our 1st annual Christmas cookie decorating night. I baked and iced up about 2 dozen cookies and Chris and Noah decorated them with sprinkles.

After decorating, and then immediately consuming, a few cookies, Noah decided he just preferred the sprinkles straight up.


I was able to salvage one masterpiece from immediate consumption. At least long enough to snap a picture.

After cleaning up we all went into The Man Room and wrestled and read a few books. Chris and I got into a conversation and didn't realize that Noah had made an escape. I realized that it was entirely too quiet and went to investigate.
BUSTED!!


Hurry, erase all the evidence!

Maybe if I show Mommy how remorseful I am, all will be forgiven.

I am such a softy!

The Hubs Tag

Where did you meet?
The last place on earth that I thought I would ever meet my eternal companion. YSA! When I first saw him I thought, "Geek!". I was so right about that but little did I know that I would come to find that attractive. After the YSA activity a small group went to the duck pond to hang out. I was wearing "girly" shoes so had a hard time of keeping up with everyone. I whined about it a few times and he cracked a few jokes at my expense. At the end of the night he walked up to me in front of everyone and handed me a piece of paper with his number on it and told me I should call him. I was in shock. Mormon boys don't have that much guts.

How long did you date before you were married?
2 months dating. 1 month engagement. I think that is the shortest of anyone I have read so far. Not sure how I feel about that. Hee!

How long have you been married?
4 years in February. I am looking forward to a trip to Italy for our 5th Anniversary. Hint, hint!

What is your favorite quality of his?
My favorite thing about him is also the thing that drives me the most insane. I love how he is so "together". He is so organized and on top of things. But...he can go sooo overboard and be insanely OCD sometimes.

What is your favorite feature of his?
It would have to be a tie between his thick, curly, begs-to-run-your-fingers-through-it hair and his booty!


Does he have a nickname for you?
He has a few that he says just to annoy me but mostly he calls me Baby

What is his favorite color?
Blue, which is good because it is also the color he looks the yummiest in.

What is his favorite food?
He is a human garbage disposal. He will eat ANYTHING! But, his absolute fave would probably be pork chops. If anyone has any good pork chop recipes, send them my way!


What is his favorite sport?
Tonsil hockey! Heehee! Just kidding...kind of. Chris enjoys weight lifting and running but is not really a sports fan. Which, I love, because I don't have to watch hours of games and Sportscenter.

When and where was your first kiss?
Chris is a convert so I had a bit of a challenge holding him off for a while. I was stingy with our 1st kiss because, at that point, I was so over dating. But, something about Chris kept me interested. After about a month of dating, but not dating exclusively, we had a YSA Halloween dance. He came dressed in camo pants and a TIGHT t-shirt. My heart races even now when I think about it. Oh, be still!! Anyway, we danced a few times and then he helped with the clean up. When he was helping me load some hay into a truck another girl came over and put her hand on his arm and told him she looked forward to seeing him at the next activity. Oh, NO SHE DIDN'T! I took the feeling of wanting to tear that chick to shreds as a sign. I told him a few days later that I didn't want to date other people anymore. He got a knowing smile on his face and rewarded me for my smart decision with a GREAT kiss.

Do you have any children?
A son and a daughter

His favorite type of music?
He rarely listens to music but if he does it is techno or church music. I know...opposite ends of the spectrum. That's Chris for ya.

What is your favorite thing to do as a couple?
We love to watch movies. Every Friday night we curl up together with what ever has come that week from Blockbuster.com. We watch all different kinds of movies too. I hate scary movies so we rarely get those but he is a good hubby and suffers through many a chick flick.

What do you admire most about him?
His determination and hard work. He takes such amazing care of us. I hardly have to worry about a thing because he is so on top of it. He is always good about making sure I am aware of everything and he asks my advice often. He thinks everything through so thoroughly and works hard to make our lives as simple as possible. I just adore him.

So His Mother's Son

I can't tell you how many times I've fallen asleep reading a good book.

SO His Father's Son

So I am in the office, aka-The Man Room, blog surfing and I look over my shoulder to make sure that Noah isn't getting into anything he shouldn't. I spot him starring longingly at his daddy's remotes. Now, Chris has an interesting collection of remotes. I only know what one of them does but there is about a million of them. Okay, only 4, but still. Noah ever so slowly starts to extend his hand to one of the ever tempting remotes, which he knows not to touch, and then notices that he has been caught. He flashes me with his classic grin and says, "No, no, no" while wagging his finger at me. (See the second paragraph of my previous post to see why this is no surprise to me.) I decide to watch and see what he does next. He continues switching back and forth between studying the remotes and watching me. Finally, he decides to brave it and reaches out for remote. With lightning speed, he proceeds to ORGANIZE THEM ACCORDING TO SIZE! Once his mission was accomplished he dashed off to watch Tom and Jerry, leaving his poor mother shaking her head and pondering on how proud his dad would be of him at the moment. Even if he did touch the forbidden remotes.

No, Schmo

Last Sunday Misty noticed some red splotches on Noah's back that hadn't been there hours earlier when I had given him a bath. By Monday he was covered head to toe in a rash. I took him in and the doc said it looked viral to her. She did a throat culture because she thought it was strep. Great! The culture came back negative. I took him back in on Thursday because every inch of his skin was covered in tiny little bumps. He had been red and splotchy earlier in the week but not bumpy and itchy. When the doc saw him again she was shocked at how different he looked. She said that now it looked more like a rash that is caused by an allergy. Double great!! I had bought a new laundry detergent but the only thing I think I could have washed with it thus far was the towel we used to dry him off after his bath on Sunday. So, he is on a daily dose of Claritin and doses of Benadryl every 6 hrs to help with the itching. Bless him, he was been completely miserable this week and I have felt totally helpless, one of the worst feelings in the world. He suffers really bad from seasonal allergies as well so the doc referred him to a Pediatric Allergy Specialist and we see her on Dec. 2. Urg!

Add this on top of feelings of inadequacy. I feel like all I ever say to Noah anymore is, "No!", or "Don't touch that" or "Get down off the dining room table!". Sometimes I seriously lay in bed and review the day in my head and just cringe. I am generous with my "I love you"s but I wonder at how much of that gets through in between all the "No"s and frustration because I feel like he doesn't listen to me.

Sigh. This just has not been a good mothering week.

FHE

For FHEs this month we are focusing on things we are thankful for. This week we talked about the creation and all the beautiful things Heavenly Father has blessed us with. For the activity we made a picture of the gorgeous fall leaves. Noah really liked sticking the leaves on the page. He did a pretty good job if I do say so myself!

Panickin...a little

Today I sat down and started making a list of things I need to do before Eden arrives. Things like transitioning Noah out of the nursery, finishing Noah's room, organizing clothes, etc. The more I thought about having 2 kids the more I started to stress. I started to think about how some of the simple day to day things are going to get complicated, especially since the 2 kids aren't even going to be 2 years apart. How do you grocery shop with a baby and a toddler? How do you care for the constant needs of a newborn and still give the toddler what he needs? I am very much aware that everything is doable but just thinking about it stresses me. How do mom's do all they do? Any words of wisdom?

Halloween With The Hozians

Ever since we came back from the beach either Noah or I have been sick. We keep ping ponging a nasty cold back and forth. So, I totally lost all my motivation for Halloween. I was going to make Noah a sumo but I couldn't find some of the things I needed to make the costume. Then I decided to make a dragon costume, but, again, lost motivation. So, Tuesday I decided that I needed to go shopping for a costume. All of the cool/cute ones where out, of course, so I ended up with a 25% of costume from Wal-mart. Luckily, he can pull anything off.

Tuesday night we carved our pumpkin. I found these cool face bits for pumpkins at Wal-mart and thought they would be perfect for Noah. He loved them. I punched the holes in his pumpkin and he spent a good hour putting different parts in and out. The first pic is of him giving his new buddy a hug.


After carving we had smores and hot chocolate (or chocolate milk in Noah's case).


Here is a pic of the finished product. Simple, but cute if I do say so myself.

This and That With Noah

I have been replaced as the love of my son's life...by a man...kind of. Noah got a new toy this week and HE LOVES IT. He carries Manny around with him everywhere.

When we brought Manny home the 1st day Noah immediately went to the toy basket, got his little piano, turned it over, and proceeded to stick Felipe (the Phillips head screwdriver) in the wholes in the bottom of the piano where the screws are located. I tell you, he is a genius!

Noah made a few new discoveries this week. Apparently, mashed potatoes add texture and shine when plopped by handfuls on top of the head.

Who needs a seesaw when you have a round clothes basket?

We spent hours at Tate Farms on Saturday. Noah had so much fun. He marched around like he owned the place. We started out at the slides. He went down over and over again and his adorable smile never left his face.

Next we moved on to the tricycles. Daddy wasn't pushing fast enough for Noah's satisfaction so he started rocking back and forth in an effort to pick up some speed.

Then came various climbing apparatus. Noah didn't want any help. He climbed and bounced til his hearts content.


One of his favorite things was the corn crib. He would have stayed in there all day if we let him. I even found out that they sell the corn by the bushel. My MIL offered to buy enough to fill a small sandbox we have. Noah is going to flip.


His absolute favorite thing was the bunnies. Chris had a hard time trying to keep Noah from snuggling the poor bunny to death. He was so cute though. He just loved on it and petted it. He called it baby at one point.

He liked the other animals as well. Another mom there commented on how brave he was because he just walked right up to the goats with a handful of grass. I told her he had a little experience with goats and donkeys thanks to his Aunt Dawn.

By the time we made it to the donkey I think it had had enough of being petted because it ran away from us. This is Noah yelling at it to get back here!

Noah marched from one thing to another and had a blast.

By the time we got on the hayride to get a pumpkin it was WAY past naptime and Noah was pretty much over it. We found an awesome pumpkin and headed out as soon as we could after that. It was a great day and I can't wait to go back next year with lil Eden in tow.

How Is It Possible That He Keeps Getting Cuter?

Noah gets more adorable everyday. I look at him on a daily basis and marvel. He is saying more and more. His new favorite word is "Cool!". He has learned to say "please", well, actually he says "Cheez", at the appropriate time. I think this is one of my favorites because, without fail, he will tip his head to the side and give a totally adorable grin as he says it. This is a pic of him asking for more ice cream.

He was saying "baby" and "boo boo" but now he says "ba boo" for both. Oh well. He will also say "I", wait for you to say "love", and then he will follow, lips puckered, with a "you". I am living for the day when he will say the entire phrase. Everyone he encounters falls instantly in love with him because they are usually greeted with a grin and a "Hi!" And he leaves um with a pudgy hand pumping and a "Bye" spoken like a true southerner.

He has started to show more interest in cartoons. I try not to let him watch too much but, man, it is helpful to be able to distract him to get a load of laundry folded or the floor mopped.

He is insanely independent. He hardly ever wants to be held anymore. Sigh. Like tonight, we went on a walk. He lasted in his wagon for about 5 minutes and then protested loudly at being restrained with the seat belt. So, we let him out to walk, thinking he would get tired fairly soon. He had other plans in mind. He walked the entire way after that. He even helped Daddy pull and push the wagon. Whenever we tried to put him back in the wagon, he would respond with a firm, "No" and kept on truckin' his bow legged, determined walk. (I have to try to remember to bring my camera and get some footage of his walk. It is so hilarious to watch from behind.) I had to smile, even as I shook my head over his stubbornness.

He is totally in love with his daddy. Chris will get down in the floor to do his stretches and Noah will get right down with him. Noah loves to "help" his daddy work out the kinks.




His favorite spot in the house is behind the couch cushions. He burrows himself in there with a toy and will play or watch cartoons for the longest.


He still loves to dance. The boy will invent a beat out of anything. He will dance to the house alarm, the toilet flushing, sirens in the distance, airplanes in the sky, you name it. He's got skill, if I do say so myself. He gets it from me.




And lastly, if I have left you with any doubt as to the magnitude of the cuteness that is my son, I think this last video will erase those doubts. Not many people could pull this off like he does.



Eden is doing well. She is definitely making her presence known more and more. We got her some really adorable clothes at the outlets in San Destin. I got an amazing deal on her blessing dress from Strausburg. It is exactly what I wanted. I am so excited for her to get here so we can play dress up.

I had to see my doc this week because I have a sinus infection that I just couldn't kick. I am the kind of person that I absolutely CANNOT sleep if I can't breathe through my nose. So, after over a week with zero sleep, I finally went in, in a zombie like state, to get some drugs. (A big THANK YOU to all the family who kidnapped Noah in an effort to help me catch some Z's!) He went ahead and checked all the normal baby stuff while I was there and then informed me that it was time to start coming every 2 weeks. My jaw hit the floor. I couldn't believe that it was that time already. Club of "Mommy of 2", here I come!