A long weekend...

I say this now, three days after the fact. Basically, that means I'm still attempting to catch up on sleep. Mostly the weekend was long because the weekend before was long and well, let me explain...

This past weekend, we celebrated my sweet baby's first birthday. This was a week after he actually turned one, but we needed to delay the party because my mom turned 70 the day before my baby turned one and my brothers and sisters and I planned a big surprise party for my mom. This involved a trip to Dallas. Conveniently, Taran and I were attending a baby shower the next evening so it was a great excuse to tell my mom as to why we were in town.

So, big bash on the 16th. It was quite successful. My mom was surprised and we had a really good turn out. Most of my sibs were able to make it which of course makes my mom super giddy. She loves having all of her kids around.


The following night, we attended a baby shower where I presented my eighth diaper cake. I was really proud of this one as I tried a different look. I made a sheet cake with a buggy on top. The buggy wasn't a new concept, as I have made a few others, but the sheet cake was a new adventure. Not terribly complicated, but it gives a completely different look and uses way more diapers than I anticipated. All in all, it turned out really well.

We returned on Sunday after some more family visiting where Noah opened a few of his presents. My sibs could not resist getting him some gifts and he did great opening them. He'd tear small pieces of wrapping paper and hand them to us. It was so adorable.

So, last week, I spent a good deal of the time working on preparations for Noah's birthday party. A good deal of the time was occupied by sewing. Inspired by one of the other moms in my Smart Mommy Group who made stuffed carrots as favors for the babies, I decided I'd make corn to go along with the John Deere theme I selected. This was a rather interesting project as I couldn't find a pattern and had to make up my own, but they turned out really cute.

I also sewed table runners for the tables that would hold the food and cake. I figured I could use the material to make a John Deere quilt when the party was over. Friday was the craziest day of all. I decided I needed to take care of all of the baking in preparation and that way on Saturday, the food could be prepped and arranged. Despite the help of my sister-in-law keeping an eye on Noah and putting together the favor bags, I felt like I didn't get much done. I was up until the wee hours in the morning working on decorating the cake and the cupcake icing was put off until Saturday. The cake did turn out amazingly cute, but the icing hardened a bit since it was time consuming (about 3 hours). That really disappointed me.

On Saturday, I was able to finish everything I set out to do, although guests were arriving and I was still icing cupcakes. All in all though, everything did turn out great and it looked beautiful! I don't think I could have been more proud of myself. Ok, it's a little egotistical, but I worked hard and it came out great, so I'm allowed to pat myself on the back.

Noah had his first taste of cake in the form of a cupcake. He really liked the icing which he picked at quite a bit until he realized that there was actual cake underneath. He enjoyed that too, although, he was confused as to why there were so many people staring at him. He also got to eat a little bit of ice cream which he also enjoyed.

After the party was over, I was exhausted, but we still had some family over which was great because we could visit a little more with them. Noah opened the rest of his presents. I kinda felt bad that the few that brought gifts didn't get to see him open them, but I had requested no presents and I also didn't want to make those that didn't bring gifts feel awkward. People started clearing out shortly after the cake and ice cream, so there wasn't enough time. I think it was for the better though. Noah enjoyed opening everything and playing with his new toys which included a couple of trucks, books, a John Deere toy, a tricycle, an interactive stuffed dog, among others.


My sister and her family stayed with us for the rest of the weekend which was much less eventful, but it was great to hang out with them. They headed to Galveston on Monday to go to the beach and see some of the other sights and attractions in the Houston and Galveston areas.


Yesterday, I headed over to the surgery center to get Noah preregistered for his tube surgery. He's all set up for the procedure on the 5th. We have to be there in the wee hours of the morning which is no fun, but oh well.


Today I attended the regular Smart Mommy meeting and then spent the rest of the day watching Noah and doing laundry. Tomorrow we are getting together to have a sewing day. I'm not sure what projects I can work on, but I'll probably grab some scraps and try to come up with something. It'll be nice to have the company and just have people to hang out with.


I'm still lacking sleep, but at least the mild congestion I had which I attributed to wearing myself out was here and gone after a couple of days. I must not be in that bad of shape. =) Here's to keeping busy!

Busy growing boy

I can not believe how different Noah is from the beginning of the week. He's learned so many new things and he's like a tornado tearing through the house without stopping. Although, let's be honest, it's a slow tornado all things considered.

Starting a couple weekends ago it seemed as though he had traded crawling in for walking on hands and knees in a sort of bear crawl. He didn't abandon his traditional hands and knee crawling, but this new form of movement was apparently fun.

He also started getting braver when cruising around furniture and started using walls to cruise along. Taran and I were able to get him to take a few steps between the two of us a couple weeks ago but since then he'd resisted attempts of ours to get him to repeat it. This week, however, he actually tried to walk to me from his sturdy place against the wall or whatever else he was standing against. He can now take several steps before face planting or falling down pretty reliably. Last night I had to laugh because he looked like he was returning from a frat party or something because he'd stand himself up, wobble a step or two and fall down. And he kept repeating it. I was so happy with his progress but it was also very entertaining to watch as he was so determined to figure it out! I'm especially happy to have caught on video a few of his walking attempts.

He also made some strides in other ways too. He has a toy where different shapes go into holes that match the shape. He figured out what that toy was all about. He tried so hard to get those blocks in their proper holes. In the end, he managed to only get a few of them, but I was so impressed that he figured out how the whole thing worked.

Noah's also been an extreme climber this week. He's climbs on top of anything he can get his knee up onto. He'll also climb from one surface to the next. So, this means things like, climbing on top of his walker (he won't actually use it for walking, we've tried) and then from there try to climb onto my desk chair with me in it. After that, he tries to climb up me, by grabbing my hair or anything else he can reach. He climbed onto my mini-tower computer which I thought was too tall, but apparently it didn't slow him down a bit.

So with a more mobile and troublesome baby, I'm still attempting to get things together for his upcoming birthday party. I'm so excited about it. We are planning it for a week after his birthday because on his actual birthday we'll be out of town. I feel like I have so much to do to get ready, even though the party isn't going to be much more than a play date with lots of extra adults. I still want modest decorations and food, so I'm working on all of that. I'm going to make a cake today to practice my icing technique so I don't embarrass myself in front of others at the party.

Noah has a recheck with the ENT today to see how his ears are looking. With any luck, they'll be all cleared up and we can schedule the procedure to have tubes put in. I'm not excited about having it done, but since he's had fluid in his ears chronically, it's what has to happen. I mostly really hope I don't have to fight him anymore to give him antibiotics. He hated them and I hated having to pin him down every time to give them to him and have him spit them right back in my face. No fun. So, I'm crossing my fingers.

I have a friend coming in to town this weekend for and event he's got happening on Saturday. He'll be staying at our place. We were supposed to have a few others, but I'm not sure if they'll still be coming due to extenuating circumstances. We'll see what happens.

For now though, I've go to continue cleaning and getting the house ready for guests... and there's a baby to chase.

Keeping Busy

For not having any plans originally, this weekend has been pretty busy.

I have a long list of errands to run mostly involving preparing for Noah's birthday. When I headed out on Friday, it was overcast, but not terrible. I made it to two stores and after realizing that the down pour wasn't likely to be letting up any time soon, I ended up heading home. That was of course after spending about 30 minutes in the car in the Hobby Lobby parking lot waiting for the rain to let up so I could feel safer driving. Noah was very patient and decided to take a nap. Friday night was game night with my sister-in-law Kim and her sister made for a late but enjoyable evening.

Saturday, I set out again in the morning. No sign of rain so that was good. I didn't make it far. A stop for gas and one store later, I got a text from Kim about going swimming. We had talked about it the night before so I wrapped it up with what I was doing and headed back home. Sadly, right as I was getting to the pool the lifeguards were kicking everyone out because they heard thunder. We tried back about 45 minutes later and everything looked promising, so we got Noah all lathered up and got in the pool. The sun even came out. About five minutes after we got in the pool though, thunder was heard again. They ended up closing the pool completely. Sigh. We went back to Kim's house and played a little Wii before Noah decided he was ready for a nap.

I still have errands to run and an empty pantry. We are going to try to go swimming again today. I'm pretty sure the forecast shows the rain going away.

Noah has been standing quite a bit today. He's still unsteady, but he's trying. I've discovered that if I don't try to make him walk or help him practice, he's much more likely to do it on his own. I guess he feels that my assistance is rushing him. Oh well. I'm cool with that. He took a few steps yesterday, the first time he's repeated it since Taran and I got him to take a couple steps a few weeks ago. We'll see if he takes another time out or decides he wants to learn more. In the mean time, his climbing habits are keeping him busy.

Another lonely boring day...

Yep, that's right, it was another lonely boring day. I am kinda stuck between being bored out of my mind and keeping racing around after the baby. Despite the ear infection, he's not feeling too bad and continues to get into everything he shouldn't. Although, in all likelihood, he's feeling much better.

We managed to get in with the ENT a day early and he informed me that Noah is going to have to get tubes in his ears to help with the chronic issue. He explained that the tubes will basically allow the fluid that collects in his ears to drain out so is doesn't continue causing problems. The thing is, we have to get his infection cleared up. When we went to the ENT, Noah had been on the antibiotics for a week and his ear was still draining. The doc prescribed a new antibiotic and some ear drops and now, about three days later, he seems immensely better. The has been no discharge today and even yesterday, the small amount that was there was dry and flaky. So, with any luck, it'll continue on like this and we'll get a good report at his next visit in about a week.

I'm feeling crazy pressed for time lately. I don't really have a reason to be, but July seems like it's going to be hectic for me. Taran headed out on Tuesday to go to work on a rig in shallow water since all the deep water ones are shut down. He'll be gone for up to two weeks. It could be less. Though that would only be the case if everything continues on perfectly and drilling continues at an optimum rate. That hardly ever happens. If there is one thing I've learned since Taran has been doing this, it is that there is almost always something that is going to shut down drilling, so I'm not keeping my hopes up.

I don't really have plans for this weekend, even though it's a holiday weekend. There is a parade in town this Saturday, but I don't know that I'd enjoy going on my own.  Next weekend, a friend of ours is coming into town. One of the moms in my Smart Mommy group is having a birthday party for her baby that weekend too, so depending on what is going on with our friend being in town, I may or may not be able to make it to that.

At the end of two weeks when Taran returns, we have a baby shower and another birthday party to attend that weekend. One week after that, we are having Noah's first birthday party. And then all of a sudden, we are at the end of the month!

I guess I feel pressed for time because of Noah's party coming up. There is so much to do and plan. I'm determined to keep it low key, but I still want it to be nice. I haven't a clue how many people are going to be able to make it and I want to plan food and favors and a theme. I have ideas floating around my head and it is a matter of making it all come together. I'm probably going to head out shopping this weekend to start collecting things. A lot of my decorations and what-not will depend on what I can find at the stores. Perhaps I'll see if I can recruit someone to keep my company while I shop. I'm feeling lonely since Taran is gone, but it seems that people are only available in the evening... Oh well.