Time flies when you are having fun!

I can hardly even believe that we are already into April! My favorite month actually! It's the month I was born, so obviously that is why! I feel like April is also such a refreshing month. It is the beginning of when it is finally starting to feel warm outside, like I don't have to stay cooped up in my house all day anymore. It makes me even more excited to be able to play outside with my 7 MONTH OLD!! Yes, my sweet little baby Noah boy is already 7 months old. I can hardly even believe that the time has flown by so quickly since the day he was born. He is just such a natural part of my life now, it just seems like he has always been here with us. Just like I feel like Tyler and I have been married forever, even though it will be only 2 years in July. I love having these boys in my life, and I love that we all just fit together.

Even though it seems like the time has flown by so quickly, these last 3 months that I haven't blogged have been a little tricky. With the yucky winter months, my sweet boy has gotten two colds, and those have been probably some of the the most challenging weeks of being a mother. I feel so helpless when all I can do is snuggle him, suck out all the gunk, spray some nasal spray, and hope that he gets a few hours of sleep while not being able to breath very well. He was definitely not my sweet Noah while he was not feeling very well. It's crazy how much a simple thing like the common cold can change a baby. I almost think it's inhuman for babies to get colds when they can't even do anything about it.

Noah has grown up so much the past few months as well. Over Christmas break, my mom kept saying that Noah was going to be mobile so soon because he was already trying to scoot around the living room. Now I have to watch him like a hawk because he is scooting all over the place. He does a little worm like scoot and it's so funny to watch his little tushy scoot up and down while he glides across the room. A few weeks ago, he even started getting up on his hands and knees like he wants to actually crawl, but he doesn't know how to coordinate his arms with his legs, so he ends up just falling on his belly and scoots. He also has started to get up on just his hands and feet in push up position. I don't really think he wants to crawl. I think he just wants to walk. One thing I know for sure is that he doesn't want to sit. He arches his back every time we try to sit him down. He doesn't like to be stationery. This baby likes to move!

When he turned 6 months old on February 25th, we tried to start him eating solid foods right away. People suggested starting with rice cereal mixed with a little bit of formula or breast milk. He didn't want anything to do with that. So we tried mixing it with baby applesauce to make it a little sweeter. He hated that too. It just seemed like he wasn't interested at all. We tried green beans, peas, squash. He just would take a few bites, and just make the most hilarious faces, like, "What in the world is this stuff?" We finally tried peaches, he ate more of that than he did with the vegetables. He likes to eat little bites of what we are actually eating than his baby food. So I give him little pieces of bread. He really is his mothers' son. I couldn't live on this Earth without carbs. Bananas are another thing he will sample. French fries probably shouldn't make it on this list, but unfortunately for Noah, those are something his mommy really loves, so of course he has had a french fry or two. The little baby puffs are another snack he enjoys every once in a while. He also really loves to chew everything with his two bottom teeth, so he will keep the food at the front of his mouth and he looks like a little old grandpa when he chews...I think it is possibly one of the cutest things ever! Yes, I know, he has two bottom teeth. They came in so smoothly, without any teething issues. I didn't even know that they were coming in it was such a smooth transition. Nursing has been a little bit more painful, because sometimes he will bite me. He has stopped biting as much though, because I think my scream has scared him enough that he doesn't want me to scream anymore. His little teeth are so sharp. And as far as I can tell, no other little teeth are making their way through his smiley little gums.

Noah loves to jump, stand, and climb (all with support of course) and I think he is just going to be such a curious little boy. He doesn't really love his carseat still when he has to get in it, but when we are just at home and his carseat is in its' spot, he loves to climb all over it and in it. He loves to talk, and is constantly telling us stories. It has been so fun this week being on Spring Break from school, because Noah is happiest in the morning right when he wakes up, which is a time that I don't usually get to spend with him. I love love spending time with my baby boy, and what a dream it would be to be able to stay home with him all the time. My students really love him too though. And my coworkers love him too. I also really feel like it has been great for him to be able to spend Mondays with just Daddy, and certain days with just Grandma and Grandpa Keil. He loves spending time with them now, and Noah is really not a shy baby. He will basically go to anyone, but secretly I think he loves his mommy the most. However, Tyler can get him to calm down better than anybody, so Daddy also has a special little touch that Mommy doesn't have sometimes.

We are still trying to figure out his sleeping schedule. I think that might be another one of the trickiest things about parenting. We feel like we made the right choice to put him in his crib from the very beginning. We haven't had to transition him from our bed to his crib or anything. But he has started fighting sleep a little bit more lately. It's hard to be patient when I know he is tired, but he doesn't want to go to sleep. That is where Tyler usually steps in to help me out. He is kind of on a predictable napping schedule. He usually goes to bed for good between 10 and 11. He has been sleeping until about 4:30, then he wakes up and I go in and feed him, he will go right back to sleep until like 8:00 ish. Throughout the day I feel like he takes pretty consistent naps. He will play for a couple hours, sleep for a couple hours, and then eat. I have been trying to not let him take a nap after 6:00 so that he will start getting tired around 9:00 and that's when we can attempt to do our (not consistent) bedtime routine. He overall is a really good baby, and we can usually put him down in his crib and he will fall right to sleep without much trouble. Sometimes he has those days though where he just will not go to sleep. We are still working through the kinks though. We will figure it out.

Some fun things we have done lately:
-We went bowling a few weeks ago, and Noah loved trying on the shoes.
-We went to the park for the first time and we don't know if know really enjoyed the swings or the slide, but he didn't cry, so we will take it
-We went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Keils' funerals, and Noah was so good
-We went to a BYU basketball game and Noah and baby Landon got to hang out
-We went to the spring BYU football scrimmage and Noah got a cute new hat
-We went to the Hogle Zoo with the Durtschi's and really enjoyed our day with them (Noah concentrated alot on the carousel
-We went and played at the park at the school by our house and Noah loved watching his daddy play basketball tonight while mommy got to visit with Brooke! (too bad baby Emerson slept the entire time)

Picture Time!!

(Just a Few...I might have gotten carried away)

This was a month before I was due. I just love this picture.

This is his girlfriend Clara. She is a month older than him. They play together every Wednesday.

This is how he feels about every kind of food he eats. Unless it is milk. Then he gets way excited.

His good friend Landon!

He loves to eat the wall in Sunday School at church.

Easter! He loved his easter eggs! He even got a new swimming suit!

His new sippy cup! We put a little bit of water in it and he loves it!

My strong baby!

110 DAYS

My sweet baby boy has been on the Earth for 110 days and am so grateful that he is all mine!!! Yes, I can't even hardly believe that he will be 4 months old on Christmas day! What a blessing he has been in our lives. He is getting such a sweet personality and I can hardly wait to see what an awesome person he grows up to be.

The last time I posted, I hadn't gone back to work yet. On October 8th, I took the plunge and got right back into my work schedule. Without any major melt downs even! I am so grateful that Noah can spend the time that he is not with me with family. He is with Tyler on Mondays, and he loves his time with his daddy. After a pretty rough start, just because they were still getting used to one another, Noah spends his Tuesdays and Thursdays with Tyler's mom. He is with Tyler's sister Melissa on Wednesdays and with Tyler's dad for most of the day on Fridays. Now that they have kind of figured each other out, Noah gets along with pretty much everyone. He still has his days, but doesn't everyone? He loves to be snuggled because that's what I do with him when I get home from work. I can't get enough snuggling in because he is just so snuggable!!!

He has already experienced 2 major holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving) and let me tell you, those were some really interesting experiences. He came to school with me on Halloween and that was one of the worst ideas I have ever had. I thought it would be so fun, but let me take you back and explain the situation a little further into detail. You will understand. So I decided that I would breastfeed Noah from the very beginning and so far it is going really well. Even with having to pump at school, I still manage to keep a pretty good supply going. (Sorry if that is too much information). But anyways, the breastpump that I am using, we are renting from the women's clinic in Orem for 50 bucks a month. It is totally worth it, because it saves a ton of time and pumps really awesomely. However, we found out that our insurance would pay 100% for a pump. We jumped on that pretty quickly, because not having to pay the 50 dollars a month would help us save a little bit. We got the new breastpump over the weekend and I tried it on Monday and it worked really well. So we decided to take the other one back. Bad idea. On Tuesday, I could hardly pump anything which has thrown my entire schedule off since then. So I wasn't able to pump enough for the next day, so we decided to give up on the new pump, and I would go in the morning (the morning of Halloween) at 8:30 and get a the pump that we had been renting back. I left the house with Noah and we got to the Women's clinic. They said they opened at 8:30, and I think we got there around 8:45. It was locked. I was frantic. I called while we were standing in front of the door and nobody answered. I had 10 minutes before I had to be at school, and it wasn't looking like I was going to be able to pump more for the day. So I tried to call Tyler like 6 times and he didn't have his phone with him. So I called my Mom. Of course she would be able to do something about it in Colorado...She was able to just calm me down, told me to call Melissa and have her get the pump, and just breathe. I headed back to school, and when we got there, Noah started fussing because he was hungry, he wouldn't eat from his bottle, the Halloween parade was starting in our classroom, I didn't have my costume on all the way, I didn't have Noah's costume on yet...needless to say, I was having a rough morning. I owe my life to Deanna, one of the secretaries/does everything else at our school. She took over my class while I got Noah settled down, and then took my class after Melissa came and dropped off the pump and picked up Noah while I went and pumped. I learned to never take a 2 month old to school for Halloween. It will never work out.

Thanksgiving was a lot better, but it was actually the day after that I am referring to when Noah and I packed up and headed for Green River without Tyler. He had work and homework to attend to and he keeps telling us that we always distract him away from his homework. So we left for the weekend so that he wouldn't use us as an excuse. :) The morning that we left was a disaster because I wanted to feed Noah before we left so he would sleep the whole way, so I fed him at 10 even though I wanted to leave at 9, and I was actually already in a bad mood because I didn't really want to leave Tyler home. I wanted him to come with us. I needed to fill up my car with gas and fill my tires with air, which I didn't want to do by myself. But I begrudgingly headed to the gas station. Long story short, the parking lot was packed, I forgot which side my gas tank was on and the hose wouldn't reach to the other side of my car so I had to turn my car around which is when another wonderful person decided they wanted to try and steal my pump, and then I dropped my credit card in between my seat and the middle part. Bad morning. But after all of that and we got on the road, everything turned out fine. The trip wasn't too long and we stopped in Lyman to see Grandma and Grandpa Bluemel and some of the aunts and uncles and cousins...and feed Noah. Everyone loved him. In Green River, we got to go visit with my Grandma and Grandpa Baker, and they just love Noah. We loved staying with Papa Rob and Grama Ella and Noah slept so good in the pack n play. We even got to spend some quality time with Kimberly and Ruby!!! Noah and Ruby are in love. We had a good visit, but were so excited to get back to Daddy!!

One other thing, and then I will be done. So, probably a month ago I did something really hilarious that I want Noah to read about when he's older. This story tells about how much I love him and how dedicated I am to wanting him to be the happiest and most loved baby ever. It starts out sad though, but kind of funny. So I noticed that he was getting super dry, so I started using this moisturizing lotion on him after his baths. I started on a Tuesday and noticed that it wasn't really helping but I wanted to try again on Wednesday to see if it would help at all. However, on Wednesday, I decided to look at the bottle of lotion I was using to see the ingredients, and lo and behold, it said Baby Wash on the bottle, not Baby Lotion. So basically I was putting soap on my sweet baby and leaving it on over night, which of course we know dries you out like crazy. I have not done that since. But the story continues...So Noah's skin has still been super dry and he started to get a rash on his face, the back of his head, and a little bit on his chest. We hoped it would go away, but it didn't really, so we decided to take him to the doctor and see if it was something more serious. This was last Monday, December 3. The pediatrician unfortunately decided that it was Eczema and that it might be a food allergy from something that he is getting through my milk. So Tyler a little too excitedly told me all of the foods that I have to avoid for 2 weeks...Dairy, Wheat, Eggs, Citrus, Soy, Chocolate, and Nuts. What a horrible diet huh. Then after the 2 weeks are over, I can start introducing those things back in one at a time. What a great way to start out the Christmas season right? But, like I said, I love my darling baby so much. I am willing to give up all of those wonderful things so that I don't have to give him icky formula. Breastfeeding is free, mostly convenient, and very nutritious for Noah. So many other benefits, but anyways...

My big boy is growing so fast though like I said, and here are some of the things that he loves to do:
--Roll from belly to back, and almost back to belly
--Giggle and laugh when we tickle him/breath at him/talk to him
--Stand with lots of support still
--Lay on his play mat and kick and wiggle at the lady bug that sings to him and talks to him
--Sleep from 10:00 PM to 7:30 AM
--Still be swaddled when he sleeps, his arms for some reason like to swat at him and and wake him up
--Hold his pointer finger
--Listen to Mommy and Daddy sing while they cook in the kitchen
--Go on walks in his Moby Wrap
--Take baths
--Talk to Grandma and Auntie Espinoza on Skype/Facetime
--Snuggle and snuggle
--EAT AND EAT AND EAT!!!
--He still hates his carseat

Oh, Tyler and me you ask, we are still in love and happy. He is still working at Goldenwest Credit Union and going to school full time. He isn't playing basketball as much anymore, not because he doesn't want to, but because we don't live as close to the church he was playing at. So he plays Racquetball with his dad on Monday mornings at 7:00 now and is loving that. I still teach 3rd grade and am loving my class. They are crazy and funny and little stinker heads. Then I come home and love my sweet baby boy. Sometimes I make dinner and the rest of the time Ty does. He loves me. We are excited for Christmas. We are heading to Green River again for some fun!!

He's Finally Here!!! (5 1/2 weeks ago)

At my last doctors appointment on the 21st of August, my doctor asked if I wanted to be induced. I really didn't know how I felt about inductions because I kind of just wanted him to come when he was good and cooked :) But my doctor thought I was ready because even though I was only at a three, he said my cervix was really thin. He also said he would be surprised if I lasted until Saturday. So we set up my induction for Saturday the 25th. So crazy. My baby was finally going to be here!!! I was nervous and excited and I was ready for him to be here.

I was still teaching school August 21st through the 24th. The first week of school. I was still feeling very good... but huge. My classroom was all set up, I knew who all my students were, and I had all my sub plans ready just in case. I made it through the whole entire week! My parents even came to Utah on Wednesday night because they thought I was going to have him early. I proved them wrong. I knew I wanted to make it through the whole first week of school so that I could just accomplish that goal of mine. I was up against a lot of people who kept telling me that I was going to have him early though. I knew I wasn't, and I definitely proved that. And who knows if I would have even had him by my due date. All I can say is that I am so glad that I was induced. I would totally do it again.

Saturday morning we woke up at 5:30 with a phone call from the hospital calling to tell me that they wanted me to come in by 6:15. We got up, got dressed, grabbed our bag (not knowing if what we were bringing was even relevant), went and woke up my Mom and told her it was time to go. Of course we stopped at McDonalds on the way because they told me to eat before I came. I got an egg and sausage mcmuffin and some cinnamon bites and some orange juice. What a great pre-delivery breakfast. It was totally what I needed for an energy boost. We arrived at the hospital around 6:30 and went upstairs. This was the calmest morning ever. I was feeling so happy and ready. My nerves hadn't even kicked in yet until we were in the labor and delivery waiting room  getting all checked in and we heard this woman screaming coming up the elevator. Her significant other was pushing her in a wheel chair and she looked like she just wanted to die. That's when I realized how glad I was to not have gone into labor on my own already. It sure looked painful.

We got all checked in and by the time they had me hooked up to all the monitors and IV's, it was probably around 7:30. Our nurse, Lesley, was so nice and really helpful through the whole delivery. I really appreciated everything she did and how relaxed she helped me to be. But what I wasn't expecting was the first question she asked me after I was hooked up to the machine that watches for contractions. She said, "You are already having contractions about 5 minutes apart, are you feeling them?" I was so shocked. I told her that I hadn't been feeling them. The pitocin just helped to move those contractions right along though, because by 9:30, the first contraction that I felt was in my back and I knew that I definitely didn't want to feel that again. I asked for the epidural right away. The anesthesiologist came in to give me the epidural and as Tyler held my hands as I laid on my side, I was so nervous that I started crying. There was so much pressure, but I am so glad that I got the epidural. The thing that I didn't like though was how tingly my legs and feet got. My mom would rub my feet and legs and that helped a ton.

The hours flew by and by 10:45 my doctor had come in to check everything out. He decided to break my water at that point and after that he said that he thought that in about 7 or 8 hours we might have a baby. What he didn't realize was that my baby was not going to wait that long. I was at a four at that point and for the next hour I was really starting to feel some pressure. My mom was getting concerned and so she said that she was going to go get the nurse and have her check me again. At about 11:30 the nurse came in and checked me and I was at a ten!! She said, "You are at a ten! I am going to go ask your doctor if he wants me to have you start pushing." That really got my nerves going. It was beginning to feel more real at that point. I was going to be a Mommy soon. She came back after a few minutes and said that we were going to start pushing. She told me that I would push three times through each contraction. After two contractions and six times pushing, she said, "If you push again, you are going to have a baby. I am going to go get your doctor." He came in and Lesley was right. The next time I pushed, my baby was here! It was the craziest thing ever! And I am so glad my mom was there, because she really helped me and Ty stay calm I think and she encouraged us to watch the whole process in the mirror. I am so glad we listened because watching my baby being born was really beautiful and magical really. What an amazing experience.

Our sweet baby boy was born on Saturday, August 25th, 2012 and 12:27 pm. He was 8 lbs 7 oz and was 20 inches long. He had so much dark hair and still has it! We don't know exactly where he got that dark hair from, but we are sure he is going to either lose it soon and be bald or it is going to lighten up a ton. We love our sweet boy though. He is perfect in every way.

We stayed at the hospital until Sunday night around 8 o'clock and decided that we could probably head home then. It was so nice having the nurses there. It was really nice to be able to have Noah stay in the nursery during the night except for when he needed to be fed. Then they would bring him in to me to feed him. Breast feeding was really challenging at first and I was really sore for several weeks. I feel like we are really getting the hang of it though and what a neat thing to be able to do for my baby. He got a really horrible yeast infection on his bottom the first week though and it was practically tearing his skin every time we would wipe his poor little bottom. He would cry and cry and it would make me sad. It took probably a week for us to realize that it was a yeast infection and finally we were able to get an ointment to clear it up. He also got a clogged tear duct, which hasn't cleared up yet, and his baby acne flared up really bad and has really made his face super dry. I am hoping that goes away soon. 

I decided last week that in his first month, these were the things that he doesn't like: being in the car, sleeping through the night, baths, getting his diaper changed, or sitting in his bouncer while we eat dinner. My baby likes: eating. That is all. I am almost positive. However, as of Saturday, he doesn't mind the car so much anymore, he sleeps from around 11 to 6 and then goes back to sleep for a few hours after he eats, his bum isn't sore anymore so diaper changing has totally gotten better, and we can eat dinner without him needing to be held the entire time. Also, he is getting so strong and loves to try and stand while I am holding him on my lap. He started smiling after he eats and he loves to talk now. His smile is so cute and I can't wait till he can make eye contact and smile at me and Ty. He is getting too long for his newborn onesies, but his 0-3 month onesies are still a little too big. What a weird transitioning time. I have convinced him that snuggling is one of the best things in the world and we cuddle all the time. That is actually one of the things that I wasn't sure if it was ok, because I want to be able to put him down when I need to, but I really could just hold my baby all the time and be perfectly fine with that. I love him and he is mine, so I should be able to do whatever I want with him. So I do. :)

I go back to work on Monday, and have actually gone to parent teacher conferences already this week. I feel that it will be a pretty smooth transition, because we have some awesome people helping us out with our sweet baby. Tyler is actually going to be taking work off on Mondays so that he can be with him and also get some homework done. Tyler's mom Marilyn is going to be watching him on Tuesday and Thursday. Tyler's sister Melissa is going to be watching him on Wednesday. Tyler's dad is going to watch him on Friday. Hopefully this system works well. And I am only away from him from about 8:30 to 3:00, so that will work out great and I will hurry as fast as I can after work to get him and snuggle with him and love him so that he knows who I am and loves me the most :) I am looking forward to raising such a good baby. He is such a sweetheart and Tyler and I were really blessed to get such a wonderful baby boy. We love our Noah Morgan and can't wait for more fun things to come!! My next post will include pictures of our new house that we moved in to on September 22nd, because unfortunately I haven't taken those yet. We love it though and I can't wait to share just how much!