overheard in the garden~

Three year olds make great garden helpers. Especially if they're slight ocd boys :o) Not only does he do a great job counting and picking potato bugs and pulling weeds, but he's also happy to help out Grace when she loses her paci.

So, one evening when we were out working in our so pathetic it shouldn't be called a garden garden, Grace started to fuss in her bouncy seat. I asked Noah if he could go give her the paci, which he promptly did while making cute faces at her. A few moments after he went back to picking bugs, she began to fuss again.

So, overheard in the garden this week as Noah called out to baby Grace over and over...

"Don't fuss now, baby. I got to wook in da gahden. I got to wook in da gahden, baby."

I love three year olds, especially this one. :o)

mr. charming(everyone needs a three year old)

Because yes, we do have other children besides our newest sweetie :o)

Remember this guy? Mr. Charming? Seriously. Do you see why we call him that? This is 100% Noah, all. the. time.

Okay, okay. Most of the time.

This past week he has just been full of himself. I wish had written down more of what he's been up to, but you know how that goes. These are just a couple that I remember...

**Noah: "Mom, I think you're super-delicious!"

**Noah to Glen and I while we were watching 24 and had told him it was a grown up show that he couldn't watch: "Well, can I just come lay down on the bed and look at Mommy's pretty face?"

**I had asked Noah to go check on Grace and make sure she was okay. A few minutes later, Anna came in holding Grace and told me she had found her with a pillow laid on top of her head and a blanket covering her and the pillow. Upon investigation, I was informed Noah was "just hiding her." Thus, another Parenting Tip... (feel free to check out all my previous Parenting Tips :o)

Parenting Tip # 13

Reserve the job of checking on the baby for a child over the age of three. If you feel the need to send your three year old to check on the baby, send an older child to check on the three year old who is "checking on the baby."

Parenting Tip #14 / Baby Proofing 101:

Make sure your three year old understands the importance of clear, unobstructed airways.

And last, but not least, remember her; Miss Precocious? The one who has recently been de-throned as the baby girl of the family?

Me: "So, Moriah, you think I'm skinny now?"

Moriah: "Uh, (much longer pause than needed), ask me again when your stomach is not so fat."

And this conversation was not at all reminiscent of one we had two summers ago. (Mind you, she was three when this took place.)

Me: (Trying on a maternity bathing suit and looking in the mirror.)

Moriah: "Mom, you look soooo not cool."

Thanks, Moriah, that was really helpful. :o)

not me monday~

Confession time :o)

I don't know why, but I am loving the whole Not Me Monday thing. I actually have quite a bit less this week. I don't know if its because I have been busy taking care of a sick three year old, or if I've just been more responsible a better Mom or if my brain was possibly just working better, but regardless, the list is shorter.

So here goes...

No way did I discipline Anna for getting a little pre-teen "I'm way cooler than the rest of my family" attitude by telling her that for the rest of the week I would get to choose her clothes every day.

I did not forget to turn the crockpot on after putting all the food in.

I have not been keep a running of list of things to write for Not Me Monday. That would be embarassing.

I most certainly did not stay up until 1:45am listing things to sell on ebay. It was really good that I didn't do this, because the next morning, Haven woke up much earlier than usual and decided to pull one of his rare one nap only days.

And I am not currently ignoring the fact that Haven is running around with a bright red, super messy candy cane he found on the floor. Because, as you all know, I never let my kids have sugar. And food never gets dropped on my floor.

I did not decide spur of the moment that the nightstands from the boys' room should be moved to the girls' room. And in the process, I certainly surely didn not dump all their junk treasures all over the floor so I could move them quickly. And it's a really good thing I didn't run out of cleaning time and have to leave the boys' stuff all over the place until I could back to it on my next cleaning day, a full week later.

I did not make a gluten free coffee cake for Glen Sunday morning and then in the middle of our movie that night ask him to please get me a snack because you know, "I made you that coffee cake this morning." :o)

I have definitely not been letting Noah drink chocolate milk by the gallon so that I can hide his medicine in it since it's way easier to do that than hold him down and deal with him spitting it out and gagging so hard he throws up. And I've not let his eye stay stuck shut for four days now because he doesn't want anyone to touch it.

...and I'm surely not looking at having to drag all the kids out in the rain today to take Noah back to the doctor again since I'm pretty sure the antibiotic they gave me isn't working....*sigh*.

happy 3rd birthday noah~

Today our sweet Noah is 3! I can hardly believe it, he is getting to be such a big boy. See the next post below for some fun Noah trivia :o)

We have a family tradition where we take each child when they turn 3 to Build-A-Bear to pick out a bear, bunny, puppy, or whatever they like.

Currently the standings are:

Anna - Courduroy the Bear

Caleb - Charlie the earless bunny (I don't want to talk about it)

Ethan - Joe the Bear

Moriah - Puppy the Puppy

and now...

Noah - Jack the Puppy

Here are some pictures from the fun day~

We haven't had his actual family party yet, we'll have that later in the month when we also celebrate my grandmother and sister Dyana's birthdays.

everything you ever wanted to know about the birthday boy...noah~

Since Noah's birthday was coming up, I've been saving my last "everything you ever wanted to know" post for the big day. I don't really feel that I have as much to share about him, though, mainly because I feel like I've shared it already! If I repeat a bunch of stuff you already know, please forgive me :o)

Here goes...

1. Noah was born on 7.7.2005. He was probably my hardest birth even though he was my next-to-smallest baby.

2. Noah is tongue-tied, like Glen. It's really cute to see him try and stick out his tongue (because he can't), but boy did it cause some pain I'd rather not remember those first few weeks of his life.

3. Noah is my only left-handed child so far.

4. Noah's name was given to me before he was even conceived. One day I was sitting at my dining room table (I can't even remember what I was doing), and out of the blue, I heard "You are going to have another baby, and its name is Noah. Funny how I didn't hear "he." So Noah was going to be Noah whether he was a boy or girl. I immediately got up from the table and looked up the meaning in the baby book. Noah means rest, peace, and comfort. Along with all the "heroes of the faith" stuff, and I thought it was a great name. In a way, it immediately brought me some comfort, as at that point, I wasn't sure if we were going to have any more children, although I wanted to very much. His name has proven true numerous times in his life already as he brings us lots of joy and laughs, which brings comfort to our spirits. My grandmother and great aunt also went through losing their home where my grandmother had raised her children when Noah was a tiny baby, and while we moved their things and sorted through their memories that fall, they held him and rocked him and took care of him and through that, he brought a tremendous measure of comfort to their broken hearts.

5. Noah has a "funny boy" personality. He has created his position in our family by getting attention through being sweet and silly.

6. Is. still. nursing. And that's all I'm going to say about that :o)

7. Is finally using the potty...at least most of the time! Yay!

8. Noah is by far my most "two" two-year old ever. Everything is "I do it," "Do it myself," "Mine," "Yes I can!" and all those wonderful fun independant phrases :o)

bonus #9. Noah is a pure delight and never-ceasing source of joy for our family. We love him tremendously beyond words and I am so looking forward to watching his sweet and fun personality grow as he does.

noah's birth story~

One year later. Ha ha. Went away for a weekend with Glen, secretly suspecting I would probably get pregnant ;o), only to discover the day after we returned that I already was pregnant. Glen wasn't really surprised. A few weeks prior the Lord had done something really sweet in that He had pretty much told Glen we were supposed to have another baby. The Lord had given me the name Noah some months earlier, and from the beginning, this baby was going to be named Noah whether a boy or a girl.



This time I wanted to switch midwives. Although the midwife I had used for Moriah was fine, we never really hit it off, and I had since met Susie Meeks. She is a mother of five, lives close to me, would come to my house for appointments, and has such a sweet, sweet spirit, that I instantly loved her and knew she was the midwife for me!



The year I was pregnant with Noah was my first year homeschooling Anna. She stayed home that year and we did first grade. I had a 6yr old, a 4yr old, a newly turned 3yr old, and a just turned 1yr old. I was a little tired. But I do love being pregnant. (That explains a lot, doesn't it?)



Noah was due on 15 July, but the evening of 6 July, when everyone in the family, save Moriah and myself, was violently ill from some horrible stomach thing acquired at Wave Country two days prior, baby Noah decided to be born.



All day I had been taking care of everyone that was sick, and late in the evening, as I was rocking a very, very sick Anna, I realized I was in labor. Poor Anna. Her head hurt so badly she was screaming and throwing up. Not exactly the best environment to bring a new baby into, but the Lord is gracious and there are all those fabulous immunities built into a newborn. The other kids were sick as well, although not in as much pain as Anna was, and Glen was very sick as well. Like I-can't-get-off -the-couch, sorry-I'll-see-the-baby-after-she's-born-hope-you-make-it-okay kind of sick. Great.



So I call my sister. She drives like a crazy person and makes the 1hr and 10minute trip out here in about 50 minutes. My other sister is out of town.



The sister that made it, the one who keeps my kids all the time, is my youngest sister Kristen. I'll have to write about her sometime. Anyway, she's young, and only 20. Great for hanging out and having fun, and she makes an awesome nanny (if anyone is in the market), but not exactly the support-the-laboring-mom type. I remember thinking "If she doesn't shut up I'm going to have to get rid of her." It was all great fun for her. Kind of an adventure. She got to video tape the whole thing (you know, so Glen could see it later.) She had been at Anna's birth, but she was only 12 at the time, so it was a little different. (Sorry if you're reading this, Kristen. I think you are fabulous and am so glad you got to be there. I'm sure if I have another baby I'll tape your mouth shut you will have grown in your labor support techniques :o) Seriously, though, I love you bunches!)



Anyway, Noah's birth was a lot harder for me to deal with mentally. Probably because Glen was immobile on the couch and I had three children very sick, one who was in quite a bit of pain. Not exactly conducive to a nice, calm birth. With Noah, I realized I was in transition, and panicked. I remember thinking, "What am I doing? If I ever have another baby, I am so going to the hospital and getting an epidural."



The time came for him to be born, about four hours after realizing I was in labor, and about an hour after Susie and my sister arrived. Glen managed to crawl into the bedroom and sprawl out on the bed behind me and touch my head (which I did not like at the time, poor guy) while I pushed Noah out. I didn't tear at all, and was slightly pouty a little bit amused that out of everyone in the house, I felt the best even though I had just delivered a baby. Anna woke up right as he was being born, and she and Glen fell asleep on the couch together soon after.



I ended up in the bed with my sister. For the first time. (See Haven's birth story for how I ended up in bed with my other sister after his birth. Good thing my sisters are my best friends, eh?)



This time, I was quite a bit more apprehensive about another home birth, but when the time came, there was not a question in my mind as to what I wanted to do. Home births are amazing, sweet, and although my next experience, while crazy and never in a million years would I have planned for it to happen like it did, was very good, and as everyone knows by now, I am eagerly anticipating doing it...again. If only I had an announcement ;o) That is currently under negotiations and prayer.