Sentimental...

Noah turned 15 months old yesterday. The little baby we brought home from the hospital is a full-fledged toddler...tantrums and all. It seems every time I turn around someone else is announcing they are pregnant and it's making me a little sentimental thinking about my baby this afternoon. Here are some "then and now" photos. Enjoy!

The Zoo

While we were in Sacramento for Thanksgiving we took a day to go to the Folsom Zoo. We had so much fun. It was a quaint little zoo, with peacocks and roosters roaming freely. Here is a fun picture of Noah that I took.

Noah's "Birthday"

On Saturday, Noah turned 14 months old. On Sunday we bought Noah his first pair of little boy shoes-- His feet are too big for the shoes in the baby department. I am not sure where the time has gone. When Noah was first born time seemed to go so slow but as I look back I realize just how fast it really went. This month, please join us in praying for Noah.

--Pray that he will continue to reach his physical and emotional developmental milestones

--Pray that the Lord would begin to work in his heart that he would be ready one day to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior

--Pray that, as parents, we will learn how to work with him to channel his energy and enthusiasm toward good activities and wholesome behavior

A Boy and His Toys

I love this picture. I came in to the room and found him like this.

It was free...

I just got a flu shot for free...the catch? It was administered by a nursing student. Ow.

What do you do...

What do you do with broccoli you don't want to eat? Put it in the cup holder!! What a smart boy.

Homemade Graham Crackers

Here is the graham cracker recipe I use for Noah. I like it because it has minimal sugar and I know what ingredients are in it. Noah likes it because, to him, it tastes like a cookie! Rich and I both agree that these would taste better with frosting :-)

3/4 Cup brown sugar
1/2 Cup shortening (I used butter)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla
1 3/4 cups whole wheat (graham) flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup water
Cream together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla. Stir together flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with water, mixing well after each addition. Chill dough until firm. Divide dough into thirds. Roll out each portion on floured surface to rectangle 1/8 inch thick. Trim to 5 X 15-inch rectangle. Cut into six 2 1/2 x 5-inch rectangles. Make a line down center of dough with back edge of knife. Place on greased cookie sheets. Mark each square with prongs of fork. Bake in 350 degree oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until crisp and edges are browned. Remove immediately from cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.

The hardest part about this recipe was making uniformly shaped crackers. With the scraps I used mini cookie cutters, which worked great. They turned out about the size of animal crackers. That's what I'll do for the whole batch next time.
Enjoy!

Blog Stalker...

Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a blog stalker. I'm not really sure what the appeal of a blog is, but there's something comforting about sitting on the couch in your jammies (yes, I said jammies) reading about someone else's life. I didn't used to be this way...I blame it on a co-worker of mine. She started catching me up on people we went to college with and then I was hooked. Are you a blog stalker? Do I have a blog stalker??

Life Lesson

Noah has taught me many things about myself since he was born. One of the “lessons” he has taught me is a constant reminder. During a visit with my parents earlier this year, I don’t remember which one, Noah was letting me know in his own little way that he was ready for his bottle. It seems the older he gets the louder his scream gets and this was no exception. As I prepared his bottle I talked to Noah and told him, “It’s OK Noah, Mommy is working on it. Have I ever not fed you?” My Dad was standing there and he said “That’s a good lesson for us too” and he is right. How many times have I stood there “screaming” at the Lord while he tells me “Be patient, I’m working on it. Have I ever not fed you?” Thank you, Lord for the lessons You teach me through this little life You have entrusted to me.

Halloween

Noah's Halloween costume came yesterday. I was so excited I couldn't wait to share pictures of him as a turtle. The pictures don't really do Noah justice...he is such a cute turtle. Here is the progression of the costume...

Not sure I want this thing on...

It must be OK if Daddy is holding me...
I need a hug...

This thing's OK, check out my car...

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch. We didn't stay too long because Noah was coming down with a cold but we still had a great time. Noah loved looking at all the pumpkins--he couldn't decided which one he should carry with him. We came home with a few pumpkins and a bale of hay for the front porch.

What's That Noise?

We were running late this morning. The goal is to be out the door by 7:20 on the weekdays. Some days are easier than others depending on how much prep I do the night before. Last night I didn't do anything. I was tired and I figured I could do it all in the morning. By "it" I mean packing everyones lunches...no small feat for two adults and a toddler who eats fresh homemade food every day.
Usually I try to get up by 6:20 at the latest. Today I got up at 6:45. As Rich and I were getting ready Noah wandered in to his room to play with his toys, something that is becoming more and more common. Usually we can hear him babble away through the monitor or playing with his toys. I heard this for a while and then it got quiet. Unless he's asleep, quiet is never a good sign. I decided I had better check and see what fun he was up to. As I walked down the hall to his room I heard a large rip. "That's strange", I think to myself. "I don't think we left anything in his room that he could tear. I wonder what that was". As I walk in to his room I see this...


My little angel had ripped almost an entire panel of wallpaper off the wall.

Nightly Ritual

Here are a couple pictures of Noah enjoying his bedtime rituals. After bath time is play time...

Mommy-1 Veggies-0

Noah has always been a pretty good eater. I've tried really hard to far to keep him away from sugar as much as possible. Knowing Noah as soon as he has sugar he will love it and want nothing else. As Noah gets a little older he loves "big boy" food a little more and vegetables a little less. Over the weekend I feel like I had a small victory in the vegetable department. I found online a great idea to help kids eat their veggies and still enjoy their meal. One english muffin+canned crushed tomatoes+cheese=pizza! Noah had his little pizzas and he loved it. I loved the fact that he was eating tomatoes and didn't even realize it. The recipe I found calls for pureed squash to be combined with the tomatoes so maybe I will try that next time. Anyone have any good "kid" recipes?

Food For Thought

I never thought I would be one of those Mommies that made all of my child's food fresh, but when it came time to start feeding Noah solid foods I thought I'd give it a whirl. After reading a few books and getting some advice from my Mom I set out to make my first dish...sweet potatoes.

I enjoy making Noah's food because I know it's healthy for him and I like to cook. It feels good knowing I am giving him the healthiest start I can. From developing good eating habits now to enjoying a large variety of foods, I am proud of what I've accomplished. I'm curious to see if anyone else makes their child's food or what thoughts you might have to share.

Bath Time

Bath time used to be Noah's favorite time of the day. After dinner every night we ask Noah if he's ready for a bath and he always gives us a big smile. We clean him off from dinner and (if he's clean enough) let him crawl up the stairs for bath time.

In the last few weeks, as Noah is walking better and better, he has become very independent. He does not want Mommy to carry him any place where he could walk himself. He has also learned that if he's careful, he can climb out of the bathtub. The last few nights, after we've got the tub nice and full of water and bubbles Noah has decided that it's time to "ga" (go) and starts to climb out. We take this as his signal that bath time is over. After he's all washed we let him climb out of the tub and he's ready to go! Noah takes off out of the bathroom and down the hall...sometimes with a towel and sometimes without. We can usually get him to slow down long enough to get a diaper on him but then it's family play time.

I think this has replaced bath time as Noah's favorite time of the night. Now he picks a toy out of his room and runs down the hall to Mommy and Daddy's room and then runs back. He continues to do this for 20-30 minutes until he looses his burst of energy. Oh to be one again...

Say What?!

So as you may or may not already know, I signed up to be a conversation partner with an International student in the ESL program here at school. I'm not really sure what possessed me to do this. Many people will tell you that pregnancy and parenthood will change you..and I think this is one of those changes...I am much more friendly now...I would have not even given something like this a second thought a year ago. The other change would be that I now like ketchup...but I digress.
I met my conversation partner for the first time yesterday. She is from China and her name is Guanlin (pronounced Gwon-LEEN) but she goes by Lynn here in the US. We met for an hour to get to know each other. She is very sweet, but I think she only understood every third word or so that I said. We talked about friends and I said something about "hanging out" and then spent the next ten minutes trying to explain what that meant.

Things I learned about Lynn:

1. She likes to shop
2. She wants to go to Disneyland
3. She loves New York and wants to move there

Here's to good conversation!

Moo, Baa, La La La

If you've never read a children's story by this author you should try one! They are definitely a quick read, but as far as kids books go they keep you interested. This is Noah's favorite book right now...although he only likes the first five pages. Sure, he'll sit through the rest of the story but he turns the pages faster than I can read. Once we finish the story he's ready to hear it again!

I can't believe I'm doing this...

Well, like the title says...I can't believe I started a blog!! I have never been very interested in "computer stuff" so this is really stepping out for me. Wow...what a big commitment. In the past month or so I've been spending time online finding and reading blogs from people I went to college with. One of my co-workers got me started on it. It's so fun to see where everyone is and what they've been doing with their lives that I decided to join in the fun.

Noah enjoying his balloons at his 1st birthday party
Mommy and Noah at the park