Uh... I am terrible at this blogging thing...

So it's almost been a month since my last blog post and since the baby is up and moving around and getting into things he shouldn't, this is going to be quick.

Here is a rough, read very rough, summary of what has been going on with me:

Taran has been home for a while, though that doesn't mean that he's actually been at home. Right now, life has been like a typical stay-at-home mom/working dad life. Taran has spent some time training then gone in to work at the lab for a couple weeks and then spent more time in training. So, he is gone for the day and Noah and I are home to go about our business.

For the most part that means that I go to yoga in the mornings at the YMCA, with the exception of Wednesday mornings when I meet with my mommy group. We've had a few rough mornings as Noah has continued his tendency to awaken early and not want to go back down.

Developmentally, Noah is continuing on. he is an amazingly fast crawler and manages to get into things before I realize that he's done it. I've caught him putting about everything he can into his mouth such as shoes, books (which he can very effectively and quickly destroy/eat), and even leaves off of my plants. He pulls himself up onto the furniture and will walk along the length of the couch or grab his push toy and walk with that. He is fascinated with anything on a hinge from book pages to doors to the dryer.  He has discovered the cabinets in the kitchen but has not spent much time exploring in there, thank goodness. He also has become quite a climber as seen here:

He also received his first haircut on May 11. We did it at home with the clippers and it went great. He tolerated it so well:

He's continuing to grow, though his fast growth is over and now he's letting the other babies catch up to him so he doesn't appear to be such a mammoth.

I'm attempting to keep my sanity as I chase him around and am barely able to keep up with any of my other interests because how how occupied I am with him. Such is the life of a mom.

I hope my next blog comes sooner from a month from now, but we'll see. 'Til then...

Holy Cow, the Weekend is Over

Oh, I'm well aware it's already the end of Tuesday, but I really don't know where my weekend went.

Friday started out as a normal day, first yoga, then home. I worked a lot on cleaning up the house in preparation of my in-laws coming in. Taran told me they'd be coming in late so I had plenty of time to get things done.

Taran had spent last week training so he was at the office and came home late in the afternoon. I had just started vacuuming the house and he asked me if it was ok if he went to Dallas with his brother that night to help bring a load of things back the next day. His brother Clinton and his wife Kim had just closed on their house on Friday and they thought it was a good opportunity to start the move. They officially have a little over a month in Dallas until school gets out (they are both teachers) but they had the weekend free. So, Taran was heading out as his parents were heading in. It's a good thing I get a long with his parents otherwise that would have not been a good situation. In any case, by the time I got to the other end of the house with the vacuum, Clinton and Kim were at our house getting ready to whisk Taran away. He had barely been home at all.

So, Taran's parents came in late in the evening toting gifts for Noah. No surprise there. He got a really cute pair of camo shorts and a rimmed hat to match. Yay for sun protection that isn't girly! He also received a bear with contact points on either hand and when you hold on to them he "says" the prayer "Now I lay me down to sleep." It is super cute. In any case, it was late by the time they arrived, so we went to bed. I had kept the baby up since the dog always barks when people come to the house and he would have been awakened anyway. The good news is that with him staying up, he slept pretty well that night.

Saturday we got up a bit late which was nice. It was a nice relaxing morning and Taran's parents had gotten doughnuts and kolaches for breakfast. Yum. Taran's dad had grabbed some blueberry cake doughnuts for me which are one of my favorites! Taran's dad decided he wanted to mow the lawn (as a favor to Taran) and I'm not gonna argue with him, so I let him. Taran's mom and I went to my Smart Mommy meeting  and immediately afterward, we went on to Noah's first party!

One of the babies in the Smart Mommy Group, Lilah, was celebrating her first birthday. They set up a cute party for her with a farm theme. Cassidy, the mom, out did herself. Now, Cassidy is extremely creative and man, did she show it! The guests were primarily family and members of the mommy group, at least from what I could tell. Cassidy and her mom had decorated with balloons which fascinated Noah. There were also pictures strung up together from every month in the past year of Lilah so you could see how she grew from birth until her first year. It was super cute. I'm probably going to steal that idea. They made five cakes. Each cake was round and they had them set  up in a row in increasing sizes. Each cake was decorated like a farm animal. Smallest to largest, there was a rabbit, a chick (yellow coconut to look fuzzy), a sheep (marshmallows to look like wool), a pig, and a cow. Too cute! On top of that, Cassidy's dad and step-mom brought over two miniature horses for the kids. One of them, St. Napolean, was good enough for the kids to sit upon for photo shoots. Of course, since they were mostly babies, they didn't really get pony rides, but it was cute nonetheless. Here is Noah on his first horse!

After riding the horse, playing with toys and the other kiddos, and snacking on broccoli, chicken, tortillas, etc., Noah was tuckered out and took a nap:

We left shortly after because he was wiped! I'm not complaining. Naps are good. He barely moved when I put him in the car. Sweet baby.

That evening, Taran and Clinton returned from their trip to Dallas and started unloading the truck. Taran's dad headed over to help them out and Taran's mom, Noah, and I went shortly thereafter - Taran's mom made cookies and we had to wait for them to cool. The evening was spent unloading the truck and setting up some furniture. I mostly watched since I had the baby, I felt kinda useless, but oh well. Kim, Taran's mom, Shannon (a friend of Clinton and Kim's), and I went to see if we could check out some of the other new or unowned houses in the neighborhood, but they were all locked. Oh well. We returned home a bit late, and Taran ran to Chick-Fil-A to grab dinner.

Sunday was a bit of a lazy day, but nice. We took a walk to the playground here in our neighborhood and put Noah on the swings, and slide and other playground equipment for photo ops. He was super cute. We also took some picks of Niobi playing fetch with a stick. I haven't uploaded them to my computer yet, but they were good. Taran and I got to go to a movie afterward while his mom and dad watched Noah. I wouldn't have minded staying out a bit longer, after all, we don't get much opportunity to go out just the two of us, but there wasn't really anything else for us to do.

Monday Taran had to return to work at the office and Taran's parents headed out and I was left alone with the baby. It was so weird that the weekend flew by so quickly and here we are and it's already Tuesday.

Today, I had so much laundry to do, but didn't get much of anything done. I did water the plants this morning and took Noah and Niobi for a walk before it got too hot. Noah was kinda cranky today and I was suffering from a plugged milk duct that I had to figure out how to empty (no fun since that side is super sore from a bad nursing latch). When Taran came home after work, I was finally able to get some things done, like dishes and vacuuming and I was able to start on the laundry.

Tomorrow, I have my mommy meeting and I need to take the car in to fix the tire pressure monitor that is brand new but not working and to get the passenger side view mirror replaced. I hope it doesn't take terribly long, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Here's hopin'!

Here we go again

Wow, just wow. Another day but the same cranky baby. Noah is having another bad day it seems. I think its a combination of tired and teething. He got up early this morning. He didn't think I should stay in bed. I disagreed, but as so often happens, he won the argument. So we got up.

Yoga was actually pretty good today, although, the instructor kinda put me on the spot by pointing out that I was more flexible than she was in one particular position. Oops. It was a little embarrassing, but oh well. It was reported to me when I picked Noah up afterward that he seems to like to steal bottles and pacifiers from other babies. Oh no. I've noticed he does the same thing at our Smart Mommy Group. I have no idea why. He'll take toys too, but pacifiers are like an instant beacon for him. Maybe he feels he needs one too. I don't know, but it is a common occurrence apparently.

Although he took a nap on the way home, I was unable to get him to stay asleep and he's been cranky since then. I'm supposed to meet some other moms from the mommy group for a late lunch today. At least Noah is pretty good in public even when he's tired, so I hope that he behaves. Maybe all of the activity will exhaust him enough for him to think napping is a good idea. Here's hopin'!

Crankiness

Noah is cranky. He was like that yesterday too. I think he's working on some more teeth. He has been clingy, napping more (which takes away from night sleep, grr), and has been chewing on his fingers almost non-stop. Poor thing.

So, went to yoga yesterday and it kicked my butt again. I was having such a hard time in the class and it seemed that the clock was going backward every time I glanced at it. Ok, I'll be honest, I only really looked at it once, but I still could have sworn it was creeping along. I tell ya, if you've never done yoga, it's a workout. Sure it can be calm and relaxing,  but it also can be painful and show you how really weak you are. It may not seem intense like kick boxing, but it has its own type of intensity that can challenge even the most athletic.

Yesterday was me just trying to keep up with Noah and keep him calm. I drove across town to deposit my check (I finally got paid for my Purina project that I completed, like, a month ago) and Noah slept about half way. I was unsuccessful in getting him to continue sleeping once we got back home, so we played a bit. It didn't take him long to get tired though, so early in the afternoon I did get him back down for a decent nap. When he awakened, I loaded him up into his Moby and went for a walk around the block with the dog. It was a nice day, but definitely a hint at how hot this summer is going to be. I'm not looking forward to that. When Taran returned home from his class we had dinner and that was about it for the day.

This morning, Noah was back into his routine of awakening over and over. I can nurse him, but he doesn't go back to sleep - he starts crawling around. Luckily when I return him to his bed he usually falls asleep again. This morning he wasn't having it. We got up early (around 7:30 am) even though Wednesdays we don't have to get up as early as we do for yoga. Noah played and not even an hour later he was rubbing his eyes and fussing. We took a short nap, not really intentional, but I was tired. I ended up hopping in the shower at 9 which is when we usually leave to go to meet with our Smart Mommy Group. At least they all have kids and understand that schedules are often soft. We had some new faces at the group today which was awesome. I'm beginning to get used to seeing new faces that don't return though. It is a little sad, but it happens. Noah is all over the place at the meetings. There are tons of toys in the area we meet and he plays hard and was back and forth. I wonder some times if I should try to keep him more controlled, but the other moms don't seem to complain too much, so I just let him explore as he will.

We don't have much else planned for the rest of the day. My in-laws are going to be visiting this weekend and there is a bunch of housework I need to get done in preparation. It is funny, I did all that cleaning before this past weekend and I feel as though I have to do it all over again. That is the horrible thing about cleaning. It is never done. Everything gets dirty, dusty, or covered in hair again. I can usually only do one thing here and there and I never feel like I have a step up on it. Oh well. I guess I'll just have to deal. Such is life.

Recovery

This weekend was crazy insane. And I can not believe it's been an entire week since I last wrote anything. My dear, sweet pal JJ is putting me to shame with her blog. Complete with pictures and updated background!

Most of the past week was spent doing spring cleaning and getting the house ready for my mom and sisters to come in to town. I washed laundry, vacuumed (a lot), washed bedding, cleaned bathrooms, dusted, neatened up the counter top, etc. I had a whole list of things to do. Not easily completed with a munchkin acting fussy. Not that it's a constant thing, but it happens. As it turns out, when things need to be done, I'm a list maker and go to it working until the list is done. Taran apparently prefers to just be given his job and he'll go to it. He doesn't like the list, he'd rather I just tell him what needs to be done. So after we got past that discussion we got to working on the house. He pitched in with cleaning dishes, clearing off the counter and table, de-shedding the dog, dusting, cleaning the bathroom, and changing air filters. We took turns on the whole watch and chase the baby thing. My main goal was to remove as much pet hair as possible. My sister Renée was going to be staying with us and she's allergic to virtually everything, so I was hoping to make it bearable. I hope I was successful.

I for some reason skipped my yoga class on Tuesday, I don't really remember why at this point, but I was bad again then. Wednesday, I went to my Smart Mommy Group. The group was a bit smaller than usual and we had two new mommies to the group. They weren't new mommies (each had older munchkins as well as their babies) but they were new to the group, so that was exciting. Thursday, I managed to get up on time and get ready for yoga. I had to actually wake Noah up to get going, but I made it! When I returned, Taran and I took my car in to the shop. The key had gotten stuck in the ignition on Sunday when we were leaving the hotel after the wedding, so I finally was able to convince Taran to take the car in. He was trying to put off the expense, not to mention everyone and their mom takes cars in on Monday and the wait would be forever and a day if we did that, so he waited until later in the week. Sadly, they didn't get the car fixed by the end of the day and we had to wait to get it until Friday. That meant I missed yoga again (let's count, that means I went to yoga once in two weeks... I'm a very bad girl!). At least the issue with the key was covered by warranty (thank you, Taran for insisting on the biggest warranty package they had). We did end up paying a chunk of change though because we got the tires replaced and the tire pressure gauge replaced (although it's not working so the car is going to have to go back again... grr).

My mom and oldest sister, Kris, arrived early in the afternoon on Friday and they were able to get settled in. We had a light dinner of Arby's which Taran picked up on his way home from getting the car. That evening, my mom taught crochet lessons to me and another mom from my Smart Mommy Group, Cassidy. We had fun, though I was sad that no one else was able to come. Mid-lesson, my sister Anne and her two girls arrived with my sister Renée and it got very loud at my house. I only hope that Cassidy wasn't too annoyed at all the commotion. I think it was ok though. Anne and her daughters were not staying with us, but they drove down with Renée and had to drop her off, so it was nice to get to visit with them.

Saturday morning was full of a lot of hustle and bustle as we all got ready and headed down south (as if we aren't far enough south as is) to League City to go to my niece Megan's First Communion. There was a small reception afterward at the church and then we all gathered back at my brother Brian's house (that'd be Megan's dad) for fajitas, chatting, and some Wii time. I was pleasantly surprised to see even my mom get involved in playing the Wii! Noah got to have his first taste of avocado, which he really seemed to enjoy. We spent most of the day there and then came back home in the evening (after a quick dinner stop at none other than Chick-Fil-A).

Sunday, we went to church in the morning and after a quick breakfast of oatmeal, my mom and sister Kris headed back home to Carrollton. Renée stuck around for a few more hours until Anne came to pick her up. We had a short visit with her and the girls again and they were off. Our house seemed so much more empty after that.

I'm surprised at how quickly the weekend seemed to fly by. And I feel as though my list of spring cleaning things to do is just as long as it was before. I have more laundry to do, I need to vacuum again, and of course, the dishes piled up. It never stops really.

This morning has been pretty hectic already, but I predict the rest of the day will be slower. Taran got up early to get ready for class. He's doing some training this week for work. I got up not long after that and got dressed and ready for yoga. I'm hoping to get back into good habits this week when it comes to that. After yoga, I arrived back home to see the exterminator's truck sitting in front of my house. I began to panic because they had called on Friday to tell me that it was time for our regular preventative service and I asked them to come in the afternoon since they wanted to be here "some time between 10 am and 12 pm." Noah had his nine month appointment scheduled for 11:20 and I may not have been home. The good news was, it was only around 10, so he had plenty of time to do his treatment before we had to head out again. Taran texted me and let me know that his class would be staying until late tonight, which is a total bummer. Noah and I went to his appointment then. He's fine as far as we can tell, but he seems to still have some residual fluid in his ears even this long after his ear infection. We have to return again in another three weeks to see if it is getting any better. If not, it's off to the ENT doc. One vaccine booster today and a finger prick for a hematocrit check for anemia. On the way home, Taran calls me and lets me know that they are going to dinner tonight which is why he'll be gone late. Bummer. He gets to go to a Brazilian steakhouse. I'm so jealous. I was fortunate enough to have a sleeping baby when we returned from his appointment so I was able to make some head-way on laundry. Maybe I'll put a decent dent in it after all.

With any luck, this week will be less eventful. Perhaps that means I'll get more of an opportunity to write on my blog... here's hopin'!

Going at one hundred miles an hour and showing no signs of stopping

We have had a whirlwind of a week this past week and there are no signs of slowing as we enter another crazy busy week.

Last week started out a bit slow, actually. Noah has been going to bed earlier, but he also has been getting up earlier too. We have started a routine of going back and forth between him waking and fussing, getting nursed, and when he starts crawling around, he goes back to his bed and surprisingly goes back to sleep. The problem is that when he goes back to sleep in his bed it doesn't last for a terribly long time, so it is hard to get back to sleep. He starts this behavior before the sun comes up and it lasts pretty much until I'm just so worn down and annoyed by it that I finally get up. I did not go to yoga Monday and Tuesday because of this. I think Tuesday, I managed to turn off my alarm and Noah finally went back to sleep so I did too and I actually ended up sleeping until after the class started.

Wednesday, we went to my mommy group as per our normal routine. One mama was having a particularly rough time with her little one, bless her heart. I really need to see about hanging with her and just being there for extra support for her outside of our regular meetings. After the meeting, we came back home and picked up Taran and we headed to the mall. Taran and I needed to get haircuts and since we were going to a wedding this weekend, we thought we'd go ahead and get that out of the way. I needed Taran to look after Noah for me while my hair was getting done. I had the stylist cut off a foot long ponytail so I could donate it to Locks of Love, though when I measured it after the fact it was closer to 15 inch. Oh well. Taran stayed and chatted some, but mostly took Noah around the mall trying to keep him calm and trying to get him to nap. Taran convinced the stylist to highlight my hair (ok, yeah, I did agree, but I've never had my hair colored so I was a bit nervous) which took some extra time. Taran ended up picking up a Wii at the game store and also found a dining table while he waited for me.

When my hair was done, Taran showed me the table he found. I swear, the man has super powers. I had looked at about four different stores, including that one looking for a dining table and didn't find anything I really liked. Taran goes in for a couple of minutes and "wha lah" finds something no problem. He says it's because he asked someone for help. I totally did that at some of the stores and still didn't see what I wanted. This dining set is the perfect balance of nice enough for a formal dining room but not super fancy. Our dining room is relatively small and not super elegant (neither are we for that matter) so a super ornate fancy set would not have worked for us. In any case, the table seats six and has a leaf so it can go up to eight which is exactly what I wanted and it does so leaving plenty of space for chairs and everyone to sit comfortably. And to add to the perfectness of it all, the color matches beautifully with the china cabinet and side table that we had in our dining area that got passed down from Taran's grandma. It couldn't be more perfect. We ordered the table and chairs which were available for us to pick up today.

After getting the table, Taran decided he wanted to go ahead and go back home because it had been such a long day at the mall. He said he'd get his hair cut the next day. When we returned, he set up the Wii and we played some. I worked on getting some laundry done in preparation of our trip to Boerne, TX where the wedding was.

Thursday, we got up and played a little bit of Wii. I worked on more laundry and we got to packing up for the trip. We headed out around noon or so. Noah was great for the trip. He slept most of the time and with the exception of a pit stop for food and to go to the restroom, we had a very uneventful trip.

When we arrived, we checked in to our hotel, chatted with the groom and best man for a bit then went up to our room. Taran left for the Bachelor party not long after that and Noah and I had a nice relaxing evening in our room. Taran returned a bit early (in my opinion). Apparently, it wasn't a crazy party full of drunken debauchery. They just had a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. Taran grabbed the Wii and the guys gathered in the groom's room playing games for the rest of the evening.

Friday, Taran headed out early to pick up his tux and get his hair cut. When he returned, we had lunch with the groom (Parker), his dad, the best man Jason, and his wife Keelin. Noah was a big hit with everyone as he always is. After that it was back to the hotel for a relaxing afternoon. Taran played more Wii with Parker. Noah took a nap. The rehearsal was in the evening. Dinner was great. There were a ton of people there. I believe fun was had by all.

Saturday, Keelin and I went and got manicures which was awesome! It was nice to have girly time. When we returned, we gathered with Parker, some of the attendants and friends and went to lunch. Then it was back to the hotel. Noah took a nap, although, it was a bit short. Taran showered and left early to get ready and head out with the guys to arrive early and take pictures. Keelin and I (and Noah too) left later and arrived early, but not too early. The wedding was beautiful. The location was awesome and the weather cooperated beautifully for the outdoor wedding. The reception was inside and they had a great facility. Plenty of room and no need to move tables to create a dance floor as I have seen at many other receptions. It was a pretty late night, but Noah did well. Even though he stayed up way too late, he was really well behaved and just stayed quiet and leaned up against me as I carried him around in his sling.

The next day we slept in a bit and finally got to moving around. We checked out and headed back home, dropping off Taran's tux on our way out of town. It was a slow trip back. I took several pit stops and Noah was not as tolerant of this trip as he was on the way there, so we had to stop several times for diaper changes and feedings. We finally made it home. I was so glad to be back.

This morning was a bit slow going. Noah was back into his habit of waking/fussing/etc. and I was very resistant to get up. Taran went and picked up the cat and dog from boarding. I vacuumed while I had the chance. When he returned, we went to the mall to pick up our new dining set. I ran a few errands while Taran headed back home with our new furniture and started setting it up. When I came back, I helped put the rest of the chairs together and worked on more laundry. That has pretty much been my day.

This weekend, one of my nieces is having her First Communion so we are going to have some of my family members stay with us. This particular niece lives about an hour south, so we are near enough to provide shelter to family. I'm taking the opportunity to do some serious spring cleaning, especially since one of my sisters that is staying with us has horrible allergies. I'm not removing the pets from the home, but I'm trying to keep the free flying hair to a minimum so I'm attempting to get it out of fabrics, sheets, bedding, carpeting and whatever other surfaces it hangs out on. I have a whole "To Do" list to get our house ready. I hope I'm able to accomplish it all. We'll see...

Good Friday

Like so many years ago, this Friday did not prove to be "good." They really ought to rename it...

Noah got up early today. I should say he awakened early... he was very loud this morning. He insisted that I not sleep in at all. In fact, he insisted I get up early. Perhaps it was because I turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze yesterday and awakened too late to make it to my yoga class. Not a problem today.

I was a little disappointed by yoga today. The instructor had us working at the barre. Yeah, she also teaches ballet, imagine that. I didn't feel like I got much of a workout. I felt like the first part of the class was a ballet warm-up and the second part, which was shorter than the first, was about various flexibility exercises, which are ok, but the ones she chose just didn't do anything for me. In the end I felt like the whole class was a warm-up and I didn't really get anything out of it. Sigh...

Upon returning home, I was able to get the baby to take a nap, which is not terribly common, but he did go down in my arms and I was able to successfully move him to his bed. When he got up, we started a vicious cycle. He screams because he is hungry, then after about no time at all eating, he wants to play. He spits up a ton, and then he is hungry again and screaming at me. He is not usually this vocal when he is hungry, nor is he usually hungry this often. perhaps it's another growth spurt, I haven't a clue, but it is taking its toll on me and I am finding myself irritable.

My friend David called me and informed me that he had sent an e-mail last week letting me know he and his wife would be in town. By last week, he meant yesterday. I hadn't checked my e-mail that recently. I'm really bad at e-mail. In any case, it turns out that he got a job in the Houston area. I'm sad to say it is south, so it is still about an hour away from us. He and his wife were looking for apartments today and apparently were able to find an apartment and a truck and were setting up to go to dinner in downtown. By the time I talked to him, it was too late for us to join them. They are going to the boardwalk tomorrow with George (a mutual friend of ours from high school) and his family but I haven't a clue the details nor do I even know where the boardwalk is. We may have to plan something with them at a later date. It is all kind of last minute notice, but apparently David just found out on Wednesday about this job and he is starting on Monday, so he's all rushed last minute too.

Anyhoo... so between a cranky baby, laundry, last minute plans, no sleep, and a hungry husband, I'm not in the best of moods. I would like to put everything on pause and step out for a bit of me time. Although if the baby and husband can get fed and all of my chores can get done while I'm out, that wouldn't be bad either.

April is going to be an interesting month...