Scooter

Houston! We have a scooter! She scoots herself backwards now. Which is pretty common and means that soon, we may have a crawler. YIKES!

[sev-uhn]

This marvelous little creature is 7 months old today.
HO-LY cow!

When did she get so big!? Somedays, it seems like I can't even remember her as a teeny tiny baby.

The poor girl has been through so much this past month. She is of course, forever teething but no teeth. Lots and lots of whining, biting and drool but no teeth. Which is fine by me.

She had her first trip to the ER too. She was particularly fussy last week and then by Saturday she had spiked a fever and started throwing up. They told me it was a bug and i needed to ride it out but if she wasn't better by Monday i needed to bring her to the pediatrician. I thought "No biggie. I can do this". She was so miserable and just wanted to be held and did NOT want any medicine of any kind. Monday came and her fever went up to 105 so i called the pediatrician. They didn't have an appointment until late morning so they sent us to the ER. One catheter and some blood work later we found out she had a bladder infection.

I know what you're thinking. Whaaaaaaaat? I had the same reaction. But apparently, they are fairly common with little girls. We were sent home with a prescription and instructions to follow up with her doctor. By Tuesday, she was still pukeing and couldn't take her medicine unless she had already thrown up everything in her stomach which meant every 4 hours for her fever. I called, yet again, the pediatrician's office. I was told by the nurse over the phone that she needed to be seen and that it was probably going to involve shots of antibiotics to jump-start her treatment and hopefully get her feeling better to the point of being able to take her meds the normal way. This worried me greatly.

You see, in the ER, i was instructed to hold her down for the catheter and blood work. She was in-con-sol-able for a good 45 minutes. I cried. It sucked. Those few minutes are at the tippy top of my all time sucky parenting moments list.

I brought my Madam with me. Even if she couldn't help comfort Noella, she could at least comfort me. She's wonderful like that. I adore that woman. She is the reason I hope one day to come up with some sort of elixir to stop the aging process so i can keep her forever. But back to the traumatizing office visit.

She was terrified of the nurse who took her vitals and SCREAMED when they had to take her temperature. Which i probably would have too considering how many times she had to have a thermometer in her... erm... tender bits. Then her pediatrician came in. She is a lovely lovely woman and Noella finds her innately fascinating. So for this bit, she was fine. Dr. Scherpa did however, notice that Noella had not only pooped, but it was leaking out of her diaper and all over my lap and her onsie. Her only onsie with us might i add. By the time that i finished cleaning her up and scrubbing my pants the best i could, there was a knock on the door. And not one but TWO lovely smiling nurses in brightly colored scrubs entered, each with a syringe and alcohol swab in tow.

I almost cried. They reassured me that they split it up only because it was too big of a dose for one shot and would hurt so so much more all at once. This logic didn't compute. But i didn't have a choice. I once again held my little girl and snuggled close to her face while the nurses simultaneously stabbed her thighs and Noella screamed until she turned purple.

The good news is that she didn't cry for nearly as long this time and she was pretty mellow for the rest of the day. They helped a lot actually and she hasn't thrown up but once since then. But her saga doesn't end there. Oh no.

Since her awful sicky symptoms are gone and she's finally taking her medicine like a good girl, she has developed an awful diaper rash from a side effect of the antibiotics. It makes her poop little bits many, many times a day. Little acidic poops that burn. Now we have to rinse her bottom and very very delicately apply cream to a screaming girl.

And tomorrow, we have to make the trek out to Keene yet again, for an ultrasound for her kidneys. The doctor wants to be sure the infection was localized in the bladder and check for any congenital defects in her renal system. I'm glad that they want to check it out though. I don't think i could bare having to go through this all again in a few months.

But for a tiny human without communication skills beyond crying, she's doing so well. She's such a wonderful girl. When she doesn't have a fever and her diaper is nice and dry, she's her own happy self again. And that's a great thing to see.

On to the happier bits of Noella being 7 months!

She has started feeding herself. Kinda. She tries.

She can roll both ways and frequently finds new places in the living room to get stuck. i.e. her arms under the couch, between furniture. It's quite entertaining.

She has started to talk a lot more which is wonderful to hear.

She has moved onto a "big girl" car seat. This is a blessing and a curse. She likes being able to see out of the window but she hates that the sun is in her eyes more.

She likes to imitate what Mister does with his mouth.

She has moved onto 6-9 month clothing.

She likes to pull her socks off and chew on them.

She is finally a fan of cold things to help her teething.

She rocks in her exersaucer like a madwoman. We are afraid she's going to tip it sometimes.

She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth. A sure sign she's on her way to crawling.

Her hair sticks up like crazy and i've finally given in to the fact that i can't make it lay down.

All in all, she's had an eventful month. It's still crazy to think that she's already over halfway to a year old. She's so so big.

Favorite photo of the month!

favorite game

The protestor.

Noella simply chooses to not nap anymore. Maybe it's because once she gets into a good rhythm i go off and brag about her (every mother is entitiled to a little hubris now and then). Maybe it's because she's cutting teeth (classic excuse as to why any child under the age of 24 months is acting up). Or maybe it's just that she's figured out that the adults don't nap and doesn't understand why she should (though i would kill for a nap lately).

Take this morning for example. She was awake and fed by 7ish. She's usually ready for a nap about an hour and a half after she wakes up. So i started the normal routine once i saw signs of sleepiness setting in. Walked her back to her room, kissed her on her head and layed her down. Much to my dismay, not even 3 steps out of the room and she's wailing like someone pinched her.

I decided to let her fuss a few minutes and see if she would settle. It took about 15 minutes of fussing and one break from her prison (i picked her up for a minute) to settle her.

Ahhh silence. For about 20 minutes. And then after starting my school work for this morning i hear "ahhhHHHAhhhhh....AHHHHH!!!!" coming from her room. Clearly, she's not sleeping. She is having one of her serious talks with the giraffe again. I can tell it's serious because she isn't yelling for me, she's babbling to her buddy in a tone that is mostly inaudible from the living room.

Once again i go into her room and decide it's going to be a rocking nap time. So i pick her up and settle into the rocker. I begin the usual humming and rubbing her head. She isn't having it. She isn't throwing a fit but she stays in her "push up" position until i gently "guide" her head onto my chest where it stays for 2 seconds and the pops back up.

I placed her back into her crib, turned on the giraffe once again and left. It's been 25 minutes and she's still back there cooing.

This might be a LONG day...

one half

The Miss turns 6 months tomorrow. A whole half a year has flown by with me by her side everyday and somehow, i feel as though i've missed it. Time seems to speed up when there's a little one in your life.

She's been such a blessing in our lives and though she certainly wasn't "in the plans" I'm so glad she made her appearance when she did. She's been a huge motivator in our little family to keep moving forward especially on those hard days when she seems ready with her arms open wide and a slobbery smile on her face.

One new thing which is so wonderful is she's finally taking a liking to her Papa. He gets big smiles now and she follows him around the room when you're holding her. I'm so glad she finally "came around" because let's be honest here, he's a pretty cool guy AND he has a motorcycle. Who wouldn't like him?

She loves to chew on the rubber spatula for some reason. I am hoping she's picked up the baking gene and i'll have a little helper in a few years.

Well let's see now. At 6 months she can:
Roll over though still in one direction
laugh really hard
LOVES solids except for meat. And often looks for more when the bowl is empty
She can sit unsupported for a few minutes
she loves to be sung to
she rests her head on my chest now when she's tired. It's the cutest thing.
She likes to reach out for other children around her
she also likes to talk in sacrament meeting
She's really comfortable with strangers. In fact, Pat Maynard took her for the whole Sunday school hour and she had a ball.
She's starting to clap
She puts everything into her mouth including fingers.
She's starting to roll around a lot in her crib and plays peek-a-boo with the bumpers
She's out growing her 3-6 month clothing pretty fast
She loves to be in the baby carrier
She also no longer uses the infant tub. She takes "big girl" baths in the sink.
She's working on standing. She stands pretty well with only one hand held onto.
She still sleeps with her giraffe. In fact, she doesn't nap well without him. Or really at all. She talks to him when she wakes up and has figured out the buttons on the back.

In short, i have an amazing kiddo. She's the best little girl i could have ever hoped for.

I'm going to do her 6 month photos soon. I just have to make her a tutu first. :)

One year

The Mister and I celebrated our one year wedding anniversary on Sunday. It's been a whole darn year. I can't believe it! I wanted to share some of our milestones and maybe a few little known facts about our wedding day.

• We met February 6th 2010 at a mutual friend's house. Actually, it was the oldest daughter of my employer at the time who set us up.

• Our first date was to a Cardinal's hockey game in Plattsburgh NY on February 12th 2010. (our first kiss was also that night... :) )

• We were engaged on April 18th 2010 at my parent's house in Antrim NH. He kneeled down in my bedroom while i was helping him with his tie for church and proposed. It was magical. Though he'll tell you it wasn't THAT magical because i didn't cry. But he did. So at least there were tears and i was SO happy.
• I found out officially i was pregnant on July 10th 2010. Totally not planned but still, a major milestone and what an amazing surprise she's been!
• We were married September 18th 2010 in the Trudell's backyard in Keeseville NY. It was a small wedding with mostly family and it was a little chilly to have an outdoors wedding but the night was beautiful.
  
• We moved out of my parent's house January 8th 2011 into our very first apartment and awaited the arrival of our little bundle of joy. It wasn't until we moved into that little apartment that we started to feel like we had made it. We were a little family.
  

Now onto the fun facts about our wedding!

• The whole thing (except my dress) was less that $1600. (my mom is super proud of this one)

• We booked our justice of the peace with a week to spare.

• One of the groomsmen's vehicles broke down on the way to the wedding and he actually walked about 1/4 mile to get to the wedding and stuck it out until halfway through the reception before taking care of it. What an amazing friend he is!
• Our wedding pictures were taken in the same orchard as our engagement pictures were.
  
• All of Jason's Dad's siblings made it to the wedding except for one and it was the first time they had all been together in years.
  
• The morning i bought my wedding dress was also the morning we got our bridesmaid dresses (except for Becky). I threw up on the way there because morning sickness was still my enemy.
  
• It was the first time i had seen my dad cry in years and to be honest, i wouldn't have lost it if he hadn't. :)
  
• My dad also picked out the song he and I danced to. and my 13 year old cousin was the one to find our wedding song. It's this song.

Now here are some fun pictures of us.

This was the very first picture Jason saw of me before we had even met.

Our very first picture together. This was after two weeks of dating. We were in Lake Placid NY.

Our favorite engagement picture.

Ta-da! We're married.

I of course, had to tell him i'd still give him a run for his money even when we were married. ;)

Here we are one year later and plus one and still just as happy.

I love that man so much and i'm so glad he picked me. Here's to many more years together!

It's been a while

It's closing in on almost a month since i've last posted and it's time.

Things haven't changed much around here. Noella is still the moody, drooling little bundle she's always been and Mister is still wonderful.

I suppose the newest thing is that i'm going back to college. This time it's exclusively online so i don't have to worry about the extra gas or finding sitters in time for my classes. It's going to be totally different but i'm up for it. It just means i have to be more of an "adult" in holding myself responsible to make time for schoolwork every day. It shouldn't be hard. After all, i do somehow find time for facebook, email and blogging. Oh and of course the occasional window shopping trip online at all the cute things i'd like for my home one day.

I've also come to the realization that i want another baby. Yes, after only 6 months of my first one, i have the desire to go through it all again for a second one. This doesn't mean i'm announcing anything and it certainly doesn't mean we are "trying". Just that i've verbalized it. It's probably going to crop up now and then until it actually happens and then i'm going to lament it on days when there aren't enough hands for both of them and the crying never stops. I suppose i just have a vision of three wee ones fairly close in age being the best of friends and cheering each other on. I know Noella isn't lonely. It's hard for her to be since she's pretty much always got someone with her. I just am excited for the time to come when she has a tiny one to keep her company too.

I've actually met and spoken with our neighbors upstairs and though their little girl is full of energy and makes things in my apartment shake, she and her mom are lovely. Her name is Carly and she's so beautiful and wicked smart. Her mom Jami even dug up some old pants that Carly had when she was little to supplement our ever changing wardrobe needs. (the weather has been wacky to say the least) I'm very glad to have met them. It's nice to have another stay at home mom in the building. I was feeling particularly young when i realized the only people not working during the day were an older fellow upstairs and a disabled woman on the ground floor.

Fall is in the air! Not only has it been raining like crazy which is a sure sign on Autumn around here but the leaves are starting to change. Oh how i adore those purples, reds, oranges and yellows! Frankly, i think it's the only reason i stay in New England. I could care less about the snow and someone else can have the muggy summer weather but Fall! Oh Fall! It's sweater weather. Anyone who knows me knows i have a lovely collection of sweaters in my closet just waiting for the perfect time to take them out. I love how crisp the air gets and the frost on the grass in the mornings. I love that it's cool enough to bake again! (Jason nearly skinned me the times i had the itch to bake this summer since it was usually on the hottest days for some reason) At any rate, clearly, i'm excited.

And because I too, have taken the pledge that no post can be a naked post, here are a few pictures of the 'Nut.