Crazy hair!

Luke discovered that if he rubs his head on the coverlet on the guest bed, this is what happens.

Cutie pie!

I finally got new batteries for the camera today & didn't waste any time before I took a few new pictures. I think you can really see how Noah has changed in this one.

This one is actually from last weekend, but he looks so spiffy in his jeans & shoes that I had to include it.

Boo-boo

Noah has officially gotten his first boo-boo, courtesy of Luke. Sunday afternoon we were sitting on the floor, and Luke was playing with the empty Tinker Toys canister. He kept putting it in my face, and I asked him several times to stop and put it down. He wasn't listening very well because he kept doing it, and eventually it slipped out of his hands and hit my arm before landing on Noah's head. It made a big red mark because the edge of it hit his head. Luke cried as much as Noah, and he kept asking if he was going to be all right. The mark eventually faded (before I could get a picture), and Noah was perfectly fine Monday morning. I know this won't be the last time Noah suffers an injury at the hands of his big brother, so I guess this was good practice for me!

Showered with kindness

The hostesses with the mostesses - Sandra, Adriane, and Wendy

Last Saturday while Cari & Hannah were here, three of my friends threw a "sip and see" shower for me. We decided to have the shower after Noah was born so I'd get gender-specific gifts (since I was so stubborn and wouldn't find out the sex before he was born. Sorry, again, Ellen!) About 15 people came, and it was really nice. My friends are quite creative, and they had cute little decorations, including a diaper cake. Noah got lots of clothes, and he looks quite dapper in the ones he's worn. The nicest part was having my sister & Hannah there.

Cari and Hannah

My sister and niece Hannah visited last weekend. They came after Luke was born, so it was nice to have them come out again to see Noah. Luke absolutely fell in love with Hannah. If he said once, "Where's Hannah?", he said it 500 times. She was great about playing with him which was nice for me. Cari was such a big help; she changed diapers and dressed Noah and held him whenever I needed her to (and lots of other times just because she wanted to.) I love them both so much, and it makes me sad to be so far away from them, but I sure am glad they got to visit. I just wish it could have been longer!The Texas Princess

My boys

Just hangin' out with my two favorite boys!

One month

Noah is one month old today. I can't believe he's been with us for a whole month! Here are a few interesting facts about him:

-He has soft hair growing on the backs of his ears. That combined with his hair that sticks straight up really makes him look a little like a monkey (a very cute monkey, of course!)

-He used to hate his bath, but now he just sits calmly while I wash him.

-His favorite activities are (in no particular order): sleeping, eating, pooping, spitting up.

-He's the cutest baby I've seen since Luke was born!

Happy one month birthday, Baby Noah!

Photographer

Luke got the Kid-Tough digital camera for Christmas, and he loves taking pictures. Here are a few of the funnier ones. Aim is obviously not a priority.

Self-portrait

Luke's foot

Big brother

As I've mentioned before, Luke loves to hold Noah. If Noah is fussy, he'll often say, "Do you know what he probably wants? Big brother." The other night Luke wanted to hold him on his shoulder, and Noah couldn't have been more content. They sat like this for about 15 minutes, and Noah slept the entire time. Notice that Luke even has Noah's burp cloth on his shoulder (it's the wrong shoulder, but he knew he needed it.)

Two weeks

Here are Noah's official two-week stats:

-weight: 8 lbs., 15.5 oz. (he's packed on almost a whole pound in the last week!); 50%

-length: 21 1/2 inches; 75%

-head: 14 1/4 inches; 30%

He is such a peanut! At almost 3 weeks, he weighs less than Luke did when he was born! He seems so little to me, especially his head. It's weird for me to have a child with a normal-sized head, and after seeing Luke's ginormous head, you can see why!

We're all doing pretty well. I'm a little sleep-deprived, as can be expected, but I do get a couple of hours at a stretch at night. Gary's been really good about helping out whenever I need it, and Luke is the best big brother ever. I dearly love this new baby who's come into our lives, and I'm definitely enjoying babyhood much more the second time around.

Happy New Year!

Well, we certainly didn't have any rockin' plans this New Year's Eve! In fact, I rang in the new year looking at "the black part of my eyes" (as Luke puts it). Baby Noah & I celebrated about 12:30, but he really didn't seem too interested in anything other than eating.

I am looking forward to all that this year will bring: a little boy who will turn 4, and a new baby who will turn 1; being with family as they come visit us; going back to Edisto with our friends (and all 7 of our children!); continuing my faith walk with another Beth Moore study and then going to hear her speak in March. I hope this year is filled with blessings, peace, and contentment for all my family and friends. Happy New Year!

A mother's love

I've heard other moms express concerns about whether they'd be able to love a second child as much as the first one, and I have to admit I felt the same concern. It fills me with wonder that my heart has expanded and that I can love Noah as much as I do. Parents with more than one child understand this and know that their love for their first child doesn't diminish in any way when the second one comes along, it simply increases to include the second child. Having Noah makes me appreciate Luke and all that he can do, and it makes me reminisce about when Luke was a baby. It's hard for me to believe he's as old as he is and that one day Noah will be running around and talking and being silly. I am so thankful for my two healthy boys. I love you, Luke & Noah.

One week

Noah was one week old on Christmas day, which of course means I have to start documenting his growth with pictures. This is my sister's idea, and I did it with Luke for each month (now we just do it every year.) So, every month, I'll post a new picture of Noah (in theory, at least). My Nana gave him this teddy bear, and it'll be in the pictures so we can see how much he grows every month.

Christmas baby

Just a few pictures of Noah . . .

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve in new PJ's

What a fun Christmas we had this year! Luke was so excited about every aspect of Christmas, from seeing Santa to it being Jesus' birthday to opening presents. He had a ball on Christmas morning. He got several of the toys he asked for, including Buzz Lightyear and Woody from Toy Story. His favorite gift by far was a pair of grabbers, but the thing he got most excited about was the orange at the foot of his stocking. My mom always put an orange in our stockings, and I've kept up the tradition. Luke thought it was the best thing ever. He carried it around all morning and finally decided to eat the whole thing around lunchtime. He liked it much more than all the candy and treats in his stocking or any other thing he got. It was pretty funny to watch him carry it around and say over and over, "My orange!"

Hooray for grabbers!

As soon as Luke saw this present, he said, "These are Tinker Toys!"

G-Mommy & G-Daddy gave Luke a real digital camera (a kid friendly one, of course), and Luke snapped pictures all day. He got right up close to everything he wanted to shoot, including Noah. The pictures are pretty hilarious.

The beloved orange!

Christmas program

Luke's school Christmas program was on Thursday, Dec. 14. I wanted to post pictures before I posted pictures of Noah, but I'm just now getting around to it. Luke's class played the part of the angels. They were supposed to wear wings and a halo, but Luke took one look at them and told his teachers he wasn't going to wear them. True to form, he didn't. I actually would have been more shocked if he had worn them. So, he was the only one without wings. I was a little teary at first because it was so cute, but by the end, I was pretty much over the whole thing. Luke lost interest about halfway through and started just acting silly. He played peek-a-boo from behind the little boy's wings next to him, and he alternated sitting down and lying on the step beside him. By the end he was sitting and trying to put his foot on top of his head. A performer he's not, but the video sure is pretty funny to watch.

Welcome, Baby Noah!

Noah Reid was born Monday, December 18 at 8:08 am. He weighed 8 lbs., 5 oz., and was 20 1/2 inches long. His head was a rather normal 14 inches. Compared to his big brother, he's a peanut! The delivery was uncomplicated, and Noah is in good health. We actually had several visitors in the hospital this time, and it was really nice. We came home on Thursday, and other than making the expected adjustments to life with two children, we're all doing pretty well. Luke absolutely LOVES Noah! He wants to hold him and kisses him all the time. Every morning he says to Noah, "Well, good morning pumpkin pie!" He loves it when Noah is awake and thinks he's always looking at or for big brother. He's been a big help to me and is such a wonderful big brother!

Grateful

Today I am grateful for my dear friend Adriane. She came over this morning to help me clean my house, and what a fantastic job she did! When she first offered to help me, I was hesitant to accept because, as most of you know, I'm a bit of a control freak and I like things done my way. But today taught me that I don't always do things the right or best way and that it was as much of a gift to Adriane to be able to help me as it was to me for accepting the offer. So we worked together for a couple of hours to get my house more spic-&-span than it's been in a while. My husband is eternally grateful, too, because he doesn't have to clean the shower or sweep & mop this weekend. So now my house is lovely and I can enjoy the next two days without worrying about it. Adriane is such a special friend, and I am blessed to have her in my life.

"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Texas family Christmas

We went down to Waxahachie last Saturday for our annual Texas family Christmas party. My mom's cousins Claudia & Penny are so thoughtful, and they always bring goodies for Luke. This year he got, among other things, a large set of cards from Claudia, and Penny gave him a fleece blanket she made. We've played about 172 games of Go Fish in the last 2 days, and he's been dragging that blanket all over the house and sleeps with it at night. Luke's favorite part of the day was going down to John & Claudia's farm to see the cows. There was a 3-day-old calf that Luke got to see, and he even helped feed the cows.

The final countdown

It's hard to believe, but one week from today we'll officially meet Baby Chumley #2. In retrospect, the time has absolutely flown; however, the day-to-day is dragging by. Not only am I anxious to meet this baby and see who he or she is, I'm ready not to be pregnant anymore! I'm having all the usual aches, pains, and discomforts of late pregnancy, and I'm pretty tired of all my clothes not fitting because they're now too small. So, I'm looking forward to getting a somewhat normal body back in the next couple of weeks.

Luke has been excited about the baby, but in the past couple of week he's started to have some issues. He only wants me to do things for him, from helping him go potty to washing his hands to giving him a bath. He says several times a day that he just wants to stay with me and asks me not to leave, and he's even started asking his teachers at school when I'll be there to pick him up (something he's never done before.) I know he's anxious and doesn't really know how to express that feeling, so we're giving him some grace on this. But it's still pretty exhausting to be this pregnant and have to squat down to give a 3-year-old a bath.

Except for the nausea for the first 5 months or so, this pregnancy hasn't been very difficult (excluding the difficulties of actually being pregnant and also being the mother of a 3-year-old boy.) But nine months is enough, and I'm looking forward to the next phase of my life, mother of two.