A post all about Noah

Wait, Aren't all your post about Noah in some way?  

Well yes that's true, but wouldn't all of your conversations go back to your baby if he was this darn cute!? 

Yes, I thought so. He is just so adorable and sweet. He is a list of things Noah has been up to.

• 2 weeks he held his bottle with help
• 3 1/2 weeks he rolled over from his tummy to his back
• 8 weeks he started sitting up propped up on the couch all by himself
• 9 weeks he held his bottle by himself

• 9 weeks he smiled for the first time as a reaction to something Sean did, not just gas bubbles

• 9 weeks he started cooing and babbling in conversation 

Isn't he just so cute! He is just a happy little guy. So our little guy is now 2 months old. This means he had another doctors appointment. He is healthy and perfect once again. He has great motor skills already. Here is is 2 month stats: weight 10lbs 13oz- 25th percentile, length 23 3/4 inches- 50th percentile, head circumference 14 inches- 5th percentile. 
So we have a tall skinny baby man. After the check up he got his immunizations done. He had 3 shots in his legs and on oral immunization.

 See his bandaids on his legs. poor little guy. He screamed so loud when he got the shots but then he calmed right down when I picked him up and comforted him. He is a mama's boy for sure. He did great the whole day after. He just slept a lot and smiled and played. Today he had a fever but not fussy at all. We gave him the tyenol like the doctor said to and he cooled down.

That's basically all that is new with Noah. He is growing and being more alert and making eye contact and just being the best little baby he can be. 

Whats that? You want more pictures? Ok here ya go 

 Daddy and Noah enjoy a nap together every Sunday after church

 Mom and baby just hanging out

 Sean and I at my mom's house and Noah fell asleep on Sean. We didn't want to move him so Sean decided to use Noah as a table

 Cortney being a lil' mama. So cute! 

My little angel

Mormon.Org

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as launched a media initiative. What does this mean? I'll tell you! The have created a website called Mormon.org that has profiles of LDS Members and it gives an overview of the missionary lessons, a list of our values and pretty much talks about the members of the church. As part of the media initiative there will also be 30 sec commercials on many major networks on tv as well has billboards.  What is the purpose of this? Contrary to what some might think it is not directly nor indirectly related to the elections coming up. In case you have been living under a rock and didn't know that there are 2 LDS candidates in the upcoming elections. That just happens to be going on at the same time as this. The purpose of this website and the media initiative is :

• Clear up any misconceptions people may have about the Church and its members
• Help people to learn about the Church and its members
• Begin to learn the basic teachings of the Church
• Learn how to locate and visit a ward
• Ask questions of their friends and neighbors that are members of the CHurch
• Request a free item such as a Book of Mormon or Bible

As members we are asked to:

• Become familar with the content on mormon.org
• Create a mormon.org profile
• Answer questions and direct those interested in learning more about the Church to the full time missionaries.
• Encourage family and friends to visit mormon.org

I think its great that the Church is using the internet and other technology to help spread the Gospel. I know that many people will be brought to the Church through this effort. This is truly inspired by our loving Heavenly Father to help spread the blessing of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. To the left is a button to my profile. It says "We know God loves us and We love our Family... Learn what we believe."

Mommy goes back to work

The time I had dreaded has come. I knew it was going to be hard but I didn't know it was going to be as hard as it has been. That's right folks, I have gone back to work :'( I had grown accustomed to the time spent at home all day with my Noah bug. Going back to work was one of the hardest decisions I have had to make. I know that its what needs to happen for our family but it doesn't make it any easier to leave my baby for others to watch during the day. I just love my baby so much it feels like the biggest sacrifice I could be asked to make. I know that it is a good sacrifice seeing as how he requires a place to live, food (it won't always be free soon he will want more than just breast milk), clothes and such things as that. Sean is going to school full time so that he will get done faster and be able to get a well paying job to support us. As I see it we are sharing the responsibility of providing for our family. He is still working on Saturdays and he is going to school which counts as providing because it is the precursor to having a good job. And I am providing by going to work full time and bringing home the bulk of our income so we can afford the necessities of life. I just wish there was a way that we could still afford the things we need but have me be home. I am very grateful for my job still. I sometimes get off early and get to spend extra time with my baby guy and Sean. I love the people I work with and enjoy spending time with them. For the situation I have to be in at least it is good conditions.

My first day back at work was Tuesday the 20th. I woke up at 6am, fed Noah, pumped milk for him, got dressed and got my lunch prepared. Then I spent some time with Noah before it was time for me to leave. I was ok while I was getting things ready but when the time came that I had to say goodbye to my little Noah I broke down. I didn't want to leave him knowing I was going to be away from him for 9 hours. That was the longest I had been gone from him. Let me tell you that day was the longest of my life! I missed everything about being home with Noah. I missed his smell, his little coos as he just wakes up from his naps, his babble baby talk, even his little cries as he tells me what he wants, I missed being able to feed him instead of having a machine attached to me storing the milk for later, I missed the funny faces he makes at me while I talk to him, I missed reading him stories. My day was just not what I wanted it to be because I wasn't where I wanted to be. I know that he mostly just sleeps the day away but even that is precious. It hurts knowing that he will grow more and be awake more during the day and I'm going to miss all those moments and memories due to being at work. I am happy that my mom will be watching him. That is one of the few comforts. He will be with someone I trust. Also Sean will be with him on Tuesdays and Thursdays for most of the day as well. I have had 4 days back at work so far. It turns out people lied to me.

It hasn't gotten any easier to leave him!    

I don't think it will ever get any easier to leave him. I sure hope I at least won't cry everyday like I have been though. My favorite part of the day is when I get home and get to hold Noah for the next hours as he sleeps on me. Sean is the best partner I could ever ask for. And he is just that, a partner. He helps me in everything and I help him. We take turns with diapers, cleaning up, holding Noah, staying up with him when he just wants to be held and anything else you can think of. Having Noah in our lives has strengthened our marriage so much! Its great seeing each other with Noah and seeing the love that we show. Sean has been a huge support to me with me having to go back to work. He is a constant reassurance that we both are doing what is best for our family. Noah is lucky to have such a wonderful family and we are lucky to have him. 

Noah updates: He has his 2 month old dr appointment this coming Thursday. He is just growing more and more everyday. He is just a tiny little baby but still we notice the growth. He is just so tall! He is interacting more with us lately. He smiles when we read to him. His favorite book is Cat in the Hat. True story. When we read other books he responds a little to our voice but when we read Cat in the Hat he starts kicking his little baby legs out of excitement, moving his arms about, staring at our face and just showing all signs of happiness. Two of the times Sean read to Noah he pooped himself out of excitement! Noah can sit propped up all by himself. He doesn't need to be held up or anything. We have such a strong baby man! He holds his head up all by himself as well. His gas isn't as bad anymore, he is pooping regularly, he is sleeping through the night in increments of 3 to 6 hours of course and pretty much being a very happy fat baby, as Sean likes to call him. To end I will post some pictures. You can never have too many baby pictures :)

 Noah and Isabelle Burnham. Aren't they a cute couple?

 Noah and his Uncle Tim (Adriana's husband) 

 Noah was doing tummy time and Cousin Cortney decided to join him. 

 Reading time with Mommy. See how interested in the book he is!

Make shift dinner

I just feel proud of the dinner I just made so I had to make a post about it. Adriana was kind enough to watch Noah while I was at work (mom is in Wyoming visiting Robyn and her new little baby Jeremiah). She decided to just hang out with us for the evening as well since Tim is at work tonight. I wanted to make meatloaf and I got it all ready, put it in the oven and let it "cook" for 10 minutes. Then Sean realized "oh yeah our oven is broken and the part hasn't come yet to fix it". At first I was pretty irritated because I was really looking forward to meatloaf. Then I had the genius idea! Lets just cook the meat on the stove. So we browned the meat and cut up some potatoes and fried them on the stove. It is delicious. In the meatloaf I had put oatmeal and onion powder so it had the perfect texture and taste. Adriana and Sean quite enjoyed it. Here is a picture of the masterpiece.

Infant Brain Development

Ever wonder how the brain develops? This past week I had the opportunity to go to a class on infant brain development. My friend Jessica's Mom teaches the class at the hospital she works for. Sean's mom and sister came with me, which made the class more fun. It was a 4 hour course filled with information! I can't even put all that I learned or else this blog would be entirely too long. Elizabeth won a book in raffle and gave it to me. It's called Bright from the Start by Jill Stamm, PH.D. It has a lot in it that was discussed in the class. I shall now write the things that stood out to me most in the class.

Did you Know?

• By the end of the third year of life a child's brain is almost 90% of its adult size. 
• Infant and toddler learning involves the formation of brain structures that "grow themselves" through use.
• As parents and care givers to infants we can influence the way a his/her brain grows
• The earlier a system in the brain wires up the more resistant it is to change. 
• Attentive care allws the brain to develop in a healthy way
• Bonding and attachment behaviors develop a sense of security for the infant and are important for healthy brain functioning.
• Play is how children learn. "babies are just scientist in a crib" they explore the phsical world and test their limits and capabilities. 
• This one is a direct quote so as to get the information just right " New research shows that the sheer number (and variety) of words routinely spoken to a child in his environment has a direct influence on his performance on traditional IQ tests!New research also examines the positive effects on mood from listening to or singing music." The research said that it is best to speak about 30,000 words to your child everyday! That sounds like a lot but its just reading Cat in the Hat 18 times. 
• Music improves some types of memory. 
• Music activates both sides of the brain and aids in reasoning and relieves stress. 

Another thing that was talked about was the baby talk vs parentese. Baby talk is using made up words like "goo goo ga ga do da da". Parentese is real words but elongated to keep the baby's attention like "Looook at the baaby" Research has shown that using baby talk causes speech impediments.

So that is the gist of what I learned. Pretty cool huh?

ITS BEEN HOW LONG SINCE I'VE POSTED?!?!?

Wow its been 2 weeks since I've posted anything! Mind you that certainly doesn't mean we haven't been up to loads in that time. Its the exact opposite actually. We have been so busy with being parents and getting into the swing of things that I haven't had much time to sit and post. Here I am now though so you can put away your tissue box (I know you have missed us so much its put you in tears) because I am back and ready to post lots. I predict we will continue to be fairly busy so I must announce that I will be going to weekly posts instead of the daily posts I was previously doing. I shall miss it but I can still update you all on the awesomeness that is us every Saturday or Sunday. Who knows I might be able to make it a habit to blog whilst at work like I am right now. I can't go home yet so might as well make my time useful. So there are plenty of things I have to update on. Here is a list so I don't forget anything:
Infant Brain Development Class
Mommy goes back work
Couples Date Night
Noah Bug

So my boss is back in the office now so I can see if I can leave! :) I'll post something tonight since we don't have any plans. Hopefully Noah is ok with me being on the computer. haha

Noah's Blessing

Sunday the 4th Noah was given the name in which he would be known in the church records, Noah Scott Howell, and a blessing. A blessing is given by someone who bears the Melchizedek Priesthood. A person who holds the priesthood has the power to act for Jesus Christ. Sean gave the blessing and in the circle to help with the blessing was: David Rogers (my dad), Mitch Howell (sean's dad), Roland Ellsworth (my grandpa) Corey Henning (brother in law), Justin Rogers (brother), Lorin Howell (sean's brother)

Gpa, Lorin, Mitch, Sean, Noah, Daddy, Justin, Corey

I love the priesthood! I know I say this all the time but its as true as the first time I said it. Did you know that in the Hebrew language they don't have a adjectives for things like good better and best? They just have good. So when they want to emphases something or show it's importance they repeat it. Well I guess I do the same thing because I tend to repeat important things. The priesthood is such a blessing. I'm so happy I have a worthy husband that can administer blessings to me and our family. Sean gave Noah the blessing but he was just the mouthpiece for our Heavenly Father. It was because of his faithfulness and worthiness that he knew what Heavenly Father wanted him to say. Noah was blessed to be strong in the gospel, to have the desire to read his scriptures and say his prayers, to be strong and healthy and to be intelligent. There was a lot more but I don't remember all that was said.

I'm so happy that our friends and family were there. Jessica and Kenny, Tim and Adriana, and Ben and Hillary came to the blessing. Its so great that they love us and Noah enough to come support us. Oh speaking of friends did I say that one of my best friends is pregnant! I can't remember if I did or not. So Adriana and Tim are expecting their first child in March. How exciting right! I love babies. I'm so very happy for them. It's great because I have been able to talk with her about pregnancy stuff and give her advice. Its also cool to see how different her experience is from mine. She is such a cute prego lady. I can't wait for her little one to come and be friends with our Noah.

So back to the blessing day. After the sacrament we took some pictures and then went to the rest of our meetings. Then after church we went to Amanda and Corey's house for the luncheon. Pretty much it was a wonderful day filled with the spirit and friends and family and lots and lots of love.

 Noah in the blessing outfit Mama made him.

 Four Generation Pictures there ^ and there v

Mom's 6 Year Cancer Free Party!!

6 years ago my mom  was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. It was the hardest thing on our family. We all thought we would lose her to this horrible disease. If we did what would become of our family? How would we survive? It was such a scary time. Yet at the same time it was what brought our family closer than we ever had been before. We learned to lean on each other for support, how to look for peace with in the family unit, and above all we learned to have faith that God would take care of our mother and our family in any circumstance. I never would have guessed that from such a great trial would come a wonderful blessing. Watching my mom struggle through having a mastectomy, lumpectomy, lemphadema, chemo and radiation was just awe-inspiring. She never lost her faith. She lost her boob and hair, but not her faith. haha yes I know a horrible joke. That was one of the coping mechanisms my family used to get through it as well. We made fun of everything about Cancer. If we could laugh at it some how it wasn't as scary, we made it smaller than it was and took away its power. We knew that no matter what happened it was in Gods hands. We knew this because mom never let us forget. Our loving Heavenly Father was watching over us and especially mom in this difficult time. Mom is a survivor and therefore as a family we survived cancer as well. Mom is a wonderful example of unwavering faith, love and strength. Even after spending most of the night throwing up she would go to church so that she could take sacrament. She made an effort to still go to any school thing going on with us kids. She never lost her fight for a happy long life. I'm so grateful for such a great mom.

So there is a point in me telling you all this story. Not only to brag about how wonderful my mama is. This Sept is the 6 year anniversary of her surgery and fight against Cancer. She wanted to celebrate it but she had no clue to what extent we wanted to celebrate. She asked for a girls day and she got that and much more. Andrea decided that we should throw mom a surprise party and invite all of her friends and our friends that were there for her during that time. Amanda, Andrea and I  started planning the beginning of last month with the help of Dad and Sean. We didn't tell James or Justin because they would have blown the secret. Mom planned for us girls to go get our nails done (with the breast cancer ribbon on them of course) and then go to lunch and as you wish. We planned that after the girls day stuff was over we would get her to go to the church some how for the party. This is how the day played out.

We met at walmart to get a mani/pedi. Notice the breast cancer ribbon on our toes :) twas mom's idea. Anytime you get us girls together there is just non-stop sillyness. (Robyn wasn't able to be there due to the fact that she lives so freaking far away. Lame idea to move to Wyoming. She was missed lots.) Mom just laughs and laughs at us all the time and tells us we are weird but we know she loves it! Then after our nails we went to lunch at Olive Garden. YUM! Yes you can be jealous. After that we took our girls day to As You Wish. If you don't know what that is then you are definitely missing out. Its a paint your own pottery place. We love going there! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures while we were there. We get the finished products today so I'll post pictures of them later. While we were there Andrea told mom she had a meeting at the church building for primary so we had Corey come pick her up and take her so we could finish our pottery. Really Andrea was going to the church to set up for the party. Then after we were done Amanda and I took mom to the church to pick up Andrea to "go to the movies". Then.... SURPRISE MAMA!!!!!! Everyone was there waiting and the cultural hall looked great! Mom had no clue the whole time and was super surprised. haha She even told Amanda she was going to , her words not mine, "going to hell for lying to me" lol She isn't the attention on me type but she still really enjoyed her party. We just all hung out for awhile then Dad, Amanda, Andrea and I went to the front and told a couple stories about mom and the cancer. Then we had a awesome slideshow Andrea made with pictures of mom and put to the song "I'm gonna love you through it" by Martina Mcbride.

I'll get the video from Andrea later and put it up here for you all to see as well. The party was a huge success.

 

This is us in the shirts Mom and I made. She had no clue at the time that they were really for the party. She thought we wanted to make them just for going out with her. Mom sewed on the ribbon and I did the words that you can't see in the picture (just noticed that, sad day.) It says in black stitching "My mom (grandma on the babies) is a survivor. And on mom's it says "I am a survivor" but instead of an "o" it has the ribbon.

Thank you to all who came to the party and made it so awesome. Mom said she had a blast and felt so loved.

Losing the baby weight! and Baby Noah is growing!

As someone who as just always been skinny without working out I was a little nervous about losing the post pregnancy weight. I am not a fan of  a real work out plan and I don't do diets. I would like it if I could work out but I just lose interest. I can do sit ups like no ones business but that and walking are the only work outs I can do without going nuts. I eat pretty healthy for the most part but no way am I going to cut the occasional hamburger and chips out of my eating habits. I like good food and I have a hard time thinking of not eating them. I know what great motivation right? haha But such is life. The idea of having to work out every day to keep a good figure is just daunting. So the only solution I could come up with was this: I sure hope I just lose the weight from breastfeeding and the fact that its so hot in AZ I'll sweat it off. lol. Well great news! This plan seems to be working!! (I'm so very happy about that because if it actually came down to me being chubby or working out I was going to have to chose working out because I dont want to have to go buy a whole new wardrobe to accommodate. I just wasn't going to be happy about it.) I'm 10lbs from my pre-pregnancy weight and pretty happy about it. I'm not sure if I'll get to the weight I once was due to the hips and other parts that I'm almost positive wont be getting any smaller. Oh well I feel good and that's what should matter in the end. I just want a flatter belly so I guess I will start doing sit ups to accomplish that.

While I am losing weight Noah is just growing and growing!! He is such a cutie. We haven't weighted him yet but I measured him and he is some where in between 23 and 24 inches long. He moves a lot so its hard to tell. Now time for more pictures of our little man :)

 Bath time with Cousin Cortney! 

 She wanted to help wash him. It was so sweet. 

 He is dressed up today as a baseball player. So fun. 

See how long he is!!! And he is getting the baby chubb-ness. That means he will be going though a growth spurt soon. Thats what Sean and his mom say anyway. They said that thats how the Howell boys are. The get chubby and then they get tall. 

 He just loves sitting on his daddy. 

 This was just precious how tightly he was curled up on Daddy. Loves loves loves.

Institute Class

Amanda, Corey, Sean and I have started institute at MCC. We are in the Book of Mormon class that meets every Tuesday. Its so nice to be back in an institute class. Its been years since Amanda has been in a class as well so I know she is very excited to be back too. Even though I have read the Book of Mormon 3 times front to cover before I feel like I haven't gotten from it what I could have in the past. I was mostly reading it because I was told to not because I had the true desire on my own. Therefore I have made it a goal to read the Book of Mormon front to cover before the semester is over. I am committed this time to read it for myself. I know that my testimony will grow even stronger and I will gain a better knowledge of Jesus Christ though reading it. I'm so excited to start this journey with the BoM!  This is Corey's first time in institute. He is a convert to the church. A week after their wedding Corey got baptized. He has been a member for 4 years now. He has never read the BoM all the way before but he has made it a goal to read it. Its tough for him since he didn't grow up reading scriptures and he gets lost in the story with all the names and the language. For this reason the 4 of us are going to meet once a week before class and read together the assigned chapters and discuss them. This way if Corey needs anything explained we can help him understand. I'm so grateful for the experience. I just love to discuss and teach the Gospel so this is going to be so fun for me. Also I am looking forward to learning more. Sean is great at teaching and he is so wise in the history of the Church. I'm very grateful to have a husband that can help inspire and teach me.

So I bet you are wondering who is watching our babies while we are all out at institute? Grandma Howell is watching Noah and Cortney. She loves the opportunity to spend time with her grand baby and its fun to watch Cortney as well. Its a win for everybody. We get to go learn while she has fun with babies :)