Monday, June 25, 2012

Please Vote for Noah- Mix969 Baby Idol

Hey Everyone!

I posted earlier that I entered him into a radio contest for cutest baby in Arizona. It has been a long contest but the end is near. They annouce the winner on the 29th!

Noah is truely the cutest little guy. It's his destiny to win. Just take a look at that picture and try not to smile. Its just not physically possible. The boy is just dang adorable and with a sweet sweet spirit to match. Also another thing, The winner gets $2000. We can really use that money. Of course since it is Noah's beautiful face that would be the winner we want to start a college fund for him with part of the money. Then with the other half we would like to use to pay for my husband, Sean's school fees. He is applying for grad school this coming year and let me tell ya application fees and the test fees are crazy! It is for the good of Noah's future for his daddy to go to school and get a good job so I don't feel bad using the money for that as well as a fund for Noah. We are in a pretty sad state of need for money for Sean's schooling so this would be a huge blessing to win.
You can vote everyday from today 6/25 to 6/29.  You vote using email. Don't worry they won't send you anything afterward, not even a email saying thanks for voting. You can use 3 emails a day from each IP address. So that means vote for your family as well, or use any emails you have. Please spread the word.

Sean, Noah and I really appreciate your support. Thanks for getting us so far in the contest. Now help us to win! :)  He is in the first Gallery id 121 Noah H. Here is the link

Vote for Noah!! 

You all rock so much for even visiting my blog. Also you rock even more for voting! Wanna rock thrice times? Well you can maybe mention this on your blog or facebook or other social networking site and let others know how they can rock and vote for Noah. Love and Stuff to you all!

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Let the Record Show

Big news people! Noah had his first official word association. He has been saying things like: dada, mama, baba, gaga, hi, and others for the past 2 months. Yesterday, June 23rd, he actually associated a word with what it is referring to! I am one proud mama. Let the record show that Noah's first word with meaning was MAMA :) That's me. He did it again a plethora of times today as well. He looked right at me and did the come here motion with his hands and said mama. It made me so happy. My little guy is growing up so fast. Soon he will be saying many many more words. I can't wait to hear all the thoughts he has. Sean is looking forward to the dada that is bound to come soon too.

Other Noah news. Our poor baby has an infection in one of the worst places for a little boy. Friday morning at 3am Noah woke up crying so Sean went and got him as usual and gave him to me to give him a early morning helping of breast milk. I fed him and handed him back off to Sean to put back in the crib. He was still crying when Sean set him back in the crib thought. Normally he just goes right back to sleep. Sean thought maybe he just wanted a diaper change. As he was changing the diaper he calls out my name and tells me to get in there right away. I came in and turned the light on. There was blood on the wipe! What the?! Where did that come from. There was a couple drops, so nothing gushing but no parent wants to see blood while changing a diaper. Sean wiped him again and saw the blood was coming from the tip of Noah's penis. This of course brought much concern to our minds. We called his Doctors office and talked to the emergency line. They told us that it could be something very serious so we needed to take him into the ER right away. We obeyed and took him in. After waiting awhile the doctor to come check him out. He said that it didn't look like he was peeing the blood so it wasn't a yeast or urinary infection. He told us that it was an infection of the glans penis. So pretty much an infection of the tip of the penis. Either a bacteria or a fungal infection. He told us that is is pretty common and comes from the area being chaffed on the diaper or some how getting scratched and open and the bacteria of fungus just gets in. It was a relief to know that its nothing too serious and there is an easy fix. We have an anti bacteria medicine to give him by mouth 4 times a day and a fungus cream to give him 3 times a day. It hasn't bled since and is starting to clear up already. Its not swollen anymore but is still a little red. Should clear up by the end of this week though. Noah is doing just fine. You wouldn't even know there was something wrong by the way he acts. He is just a happy little baby and is playing and smiling as usual. First ER visit is out of the way. Sean was so worried. I think being a guy he was more worried because of where the blood was coming from. We were both pretty freaked out. I'm so happy my baby is fine now :) I hope we don't have to take anymore trips there.

Crazy week of non stop funness!

It's been a busy week for us. We went on a double date almost every day this week.

Monday- Date with the perentals :) My mama and papa. We got a booklet of 12 free movie tickets and 24  half off coupons for a movie theater in Scottsdale called The Studio Movie Grill. Its a dinner and movie theater where they bring out food during the movie. It was pretty awesome. On the way there we chatted about our love stories. Even though I've heard it a dozen times I still like to hear how my parents met. They didn't know some of the facts about our love story so that was fun to tell again. It was adorable how my parents still hold hands in the car. Seriously they are just so in love. Sean thought they were silly. I agreed. Sometimes they act like they are still newly weds. My kept telling dad to dance for her.  On the way there mom was back seat driving and telling dad not to get to close to the cars and where he needed to turn if he wasn't turning when she thought appropriate. Sean smirked and said "now I see why you do it" Then mom and I both yelled at dad as he wasn't yeilding properly to our standards. Sean and Dad had a nice laugh about that. We saw "Snow White and the Huntsman" It was pretty good. I liked the story line but I didn't like how the end left it so we didn't know who Snow White ended up with. I mean we can assume but I didn't think that was good enough. Kristen Stewart's acting, as usual, was subpar. But the huntsman was great. Chris Hainsworth was the actor he also played Thor in Avengers. Mom and I agreed if we didn't love our husbands we would be in love with him. Dad and Sean understood though so its alright. After the movie and dinner mom decided she wanted ice cream. Since we treated for the movie (free) and dinner (After the coupon dinner was only $30 for all four of us) they treated the treat. Cold Stone, Yum! It was a bomb diggity date.







Tuesday- I had a massage to do at 5:30pm then afterward we went to Amanda and Corey's house. (Sister and her husband) We were there to help her practice for a test at work. But we ended up not really working on that much haha. Noah was sleepy so he just slept in their room most of the night. Cortney (my adorable niece) was just a cutie all night asking where her noah was. We ordered pizza and just hung out for a couple hours. It's always nice hanging out there cuz we tend to just chill.
Didn't get any pics of us hanging out., oops

Wednesday- We had planned to go with Ben & Hillary to the studio movie grill. This ended up not happening sadly. We were pretty bummed. We were on the way to pick the up and got a call from Hillary telling us they couldn't do it after all this week. Ben had a job interview that ran late and they both thought the other one was in charge of getting a babysitter. We hopefully will be able to go out with them next week instead. They are pretty fun peeps. Maybe we can just get one babysitter for both babies and they can play together. David and his girlfriend were going to babysit Noah and we had plans to go out with them on Thursday so we just did it Wednesday instead and took Noah bug with us. David wanted to take us out for Sean's bday since he missed the party we had for him two weeks ago. So kind of him to treat us to a delicious dinner. We went to one of Sean's favorite places, Buffalo Wild Wings. Noah also love the wings too. It was a super fun night and nice to spend some time with them. David doesn't get to see Noah often so he had a good time holding and loving him.

 Noah loves him some mango lemonade. 







Thursday- Wednesday night our friend Alex called and asked if we had plans the next day. Since we did our Thursday plans that night instead we were free. Alex's birthday is Saturday and wanted to hang out with us sometime this week to celebrate. Again no pictures. It was a pretty great night though.


Friday- Homemade pizza with Mike and Rebecca. They are pretty much awesome. We had a really nice time with them. We got there and Becca had pizza dough on the table, one for each of us. And we put our own toppings on them. The crust was delicious! She is a pro at pizza dough apparently. We brought Noah along so we kept entertained watching and commenting on the cute things he does. It was great getting to know them more. Mike was roommates with Sean in the original mancave and I had gone on a date with him before so I knew him a little as well. I've seen Becca a bunch of times but we hadn't really known each other that well. Mike and Becca have been married for 3 years now and are expecting their first child in 2 months. So exciting! Sean and I are looking forward to more doubles with them and our babies being playmates. Sadly again no pictures. Man I was off this week with my picture taking.

It was a marvelous week! On Saturday Sean of course worked all day as usual. Noah and I had a busy day as well. I dropped him off at Grandma Rogers house and went with Onda to a class taught at St. Luke's Hospital. It was put on by the same  grant funded program that taught the infant brain development class I took a couple months back. This class was Home Safety. We learned a lot about how to child proof your home and make it safe for children. A lot I already knew but there was some knew statistics I was unaware of and some tips of how to better your home for children.  At the end everyone in the class received free Fire extinguishers, fire&smoke alarms, outlet covers, safety flash cards for children, story books for kids, and a coloring book. Pretty awesome! I love free stuff. Now I'm prepared to keep my baby safe and teach him out to stay safe as well. After the class we picked up Noah, dropped off Onda and then Noah and I had lunch with Sean at work. I love taking Noah to see daddy at work. I think it brightens Sean's work day. Plus the old people love seeing him too! They get so excited when they see him and talk to him and tell him stories. Noah gets a kick out of all the attention as well. After lunch I went to Sean's mom's house to hang out with Onda some more. We did our nails and watched Noah bug be cute. (this tends to be a big chuck of my day most of the time, I love it) Noah had some fun playing with his Grandma Howell and Aunt Onda. When Sean got off work at 10:30pm we went home. It was a pretty grand day full of fun.




Welp, that our week. Dang awesome right? I know, I love my life. It isn't always full as this past week was but it does always have Sean and Noah  so that makes any day wonderful.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

A Letter to Noah Scott Howell

Dear Noah,

Soon you shall be 1 year old. That's a pretty long time in baby time. You will have been on this wonderful planet for 1 year, that's 365 days, 3 or 4 thousand diaper changes, even more  than all of that there have been wet kisses from you, smiles and laughs, and loving stares.

This year you have learned to crawl, been blessed and given a name on the church records, received a couple fathers blessings, gone swimming, discovered the world around you, learned to take steps with the help of loving fingers to hold onto, discovered how loud you can make your voice go, learned new sounds you can make with your mouth, made your father and I fall in love with you every day. You have been pushed and pulled like a rag doll from the wild Cortney. She loves you so much and just can't wait til you are big enough to play like she does. You are learning how to hold your own with her and let her know when you want to play and when you'd rather be left alone. You love your grandparents and light up when you are in their arms. Your aunts and uncles adore you and have enjoyed seeing you grow and learn. You have such a sweet demeanor. You are a kind loving soul. At church you share with the babies in Relief Society. You love sitting and watching others. Daddy jokes about how you are Magellan discovering new worlds as you crawl around the house admiring cords and cat hair, rugs and all other things in reach of your baby hands. We read to you almost every day and you love it. You hit the books and grab them from us, holding them as if you are reading it yourself. You copy our voice as if you are saying the same words in your own Noah language. Tickling you and hearing that laugh makes my day. Baby laughs are the best. They never hold back. As people get old I think they sometimes supress their laughs. I hope you never do. Your laugh is the best and makes everyone around you smile. Noah you are a blessed little guy. You are surrounded by love from your family and friends, your Savior loves you and you are going to grow up in a home that lets you know that daily. I have cherished this last (almost) year with you and look forward to the many many more years of discoveries and learning opportunities. Teaching and loving you is a privilege. Your daddy loves you with all his daddy heart. You are his pride and joy. I see such love and happiness when he looks at you. Thank you for coming to us and making our life an amazing adventure.

I love you ,
Mama

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Weaning

I stopped pumping at work. I have to say I don't miss it even a little.
I know I wont be able to say the same when I stop breastfeeding though. I am still breastfeeding Noah a couple times during the day/night. I feed him in the morning before I go to work, then when I get home from work and again for his bedtime routine. I love the early morning hours while Sean is sleeping and I get some one on one time with my Noah. He eats and stares up at me with his beautiful eyes and I just feel so loved. I love knowing I am his source for comfort, nurishment and love. I am not looking forward to letting that go. I don't really have a time frame of when we are going to stop breastfeeding. I know I don't want to be breastfeeding when he is 2 or 3years old. The image of a certian TIME magazine enters my head (child on step stool breastfeeding) and I just don't really feel right about it. It's a little extreme for me. Not my type of parenting style. I'm not knocking it, just not for me. That said I'm not sure what age is appropriate to go to. I think I will leave it up to him. When we are ready we will know. I think its a personal choice each parent has to make. Yes I do believe that the father has a choice in the matter. I know the woman is the one offering up her breasts to be used for it but still its the dad's child just as much. I think he should have a say, even if it only counts as a fraction of the voting process, when his child stops recieving the very importnat nurishment from the breastmilk. Sean wanted me to go at least a year and less than 3 years. So good thing we are on the same page. Now we will see what page Noah is on. Right now he is very pro still breastmilk. He has been given a variety of jucies, pediasure, a little bit of cows milk (he is pretty close to a year so I don't think its too bad at this point) and water ocassionaly and he still seems to prefer the breast. I'm pretty sure he enjoys the one on one time with mommy just as much as I do.

Weaning off the pumping wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. I imagined moments of wet lactation cirles on my shrits at work after missing a pumping time. Luckily this didn't happen. Can we say embarrasing? I did the weaning gradually, which I believe is the definition haha. I stopped the second pumping time around 2 weeks ago. Then yesterday I stopped the morning pumping. By the time I got home my breasts were quite full and a little sore but not too bad considering. Noah ate and in the middle of chugging he pulled of and squeezed by boob. Result: Milk flew across the couch and onto Kenny's arm! haha He was like "what the?" haha we all had a good laugh at it.  Ken is always making comments about how he can eat breastmilk ice cream because he is lactose intolerant but breastmilk has no lactose. Noah was trying to share.

I can't believe he is growing so fast! Soon he will be walking, not breastfeeding, and talking. I just have to soak up all the baby time I have left with him. Man I love that bug :)

Monday, June 18, 2012

Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day! I know its late but I didn't want to post yesterday. It was a great day! :) We woke up and played with Noah. He is such a happy baby in the mornings. Well he is pretty much a happy baby all the time but especially in the mornings. He crawls all over the bed and squeals and grabs at our faces, gives kisses and hugs. We just love him.

So after playing for awhile I went down stairs and made a lovely breakfast for our Hero of the day. Noah played on the floor with goldfish crackers and Sean sat and watched us. I normally suck at making pancakes but I'm getting better. These ones turned out pretty great. We had pancakes, sliced fried turkey, eggs and potatoes. It was a feast. Then we just lounged around til church time. After church we went to my parents house for festivities. On the way Sean called his dad to say happy fathers day to him too. I like his dad. He is a funny guy. I see where Sean gets his sense of humor from. All the Howell boys have that same quirky humor.  At my parents house my dad grilled up some delicious hamburgers with all the fixings. They put on a movie, John Carter. It was stupid. Some guy went to mars and fell for a girl and had to help in a war. Not my kind of movie. I played with Noah and read a book instead. (reading the book Wicked, after the Broadway play) Sean said he didn't really like it very much either. We brought our friend Alex to my parents as well. We just watched the movie and chatted. Pretty chill night.

Sean said he enjoyed the day very much :) Noah and I are so blessed to have him. He is an amazing Husband and Father. I am glad he is the head of our house and leads us in the right direction. I am so grateful for the pleasure of raising a family with him. Have I told you lately how in love with this man I am? Well just in case you missed it, I LOVE HIM <---------------------------------------------------> This much times like a gazillion.

My PAPA
He is the greatest! I have have learned so much from his example. He is always a missionary. He isn't afraid to talk to anyone. He is kind, and loving. I love how much he loves people. Especially my mother. If you want to be a great father show your kids how to love by loving their mother. Us kids definitely learned how to love perfectly because of my dad's love for my mom. He is a hard worker with the highest work ethic. I have never known a man to work harder than my dad. He has been a wonderful provider for my family. I am a better person having him to guide me. I am so grateful for all the great men in my life. I'm grateful for Sean's dad and the way he brought up Sean. I just love that we have days like these to honor and give thanks to the important people in our lives.

I think I skipped blogging about mothers day now that I think of it. It was a great day too. haha months ago but hey oh well. I will just take a few lines to write about it. We went to church with my family then went to Sean's moms house for dinner. It was a nice day. Sean and Noah were so loving and made me feel important and blessed. I am grateful for my mother. She is the strongest person I have ever known. She has been through some intense trials I can't even imagine going through. Yet there she is a beacon of happiness and a testimony that the atonement is real and works. She loves the gospel. She has unconditional love for her family. No matter what we do she is there for us. She has taught me how to be a mother. I am grateful for Sean's mom too. She has taught him to be strong in the gospel and how to be a responsible person. She loves and guides her family.
I am a pretty lucky gal to be surrounded by so many amazing people!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Run or Bust

I hate running. Raise your hand if you hate running ^ this is me raising my hand. I'm not very good at the breathing while you feel your heart beating out of your chest thing that running requires. You know who likes running? ^ This is Sean raising his hand. I guess he likes not breathing. . Or maybe he has figured out the breathing issue. Probably the latter. I need to figure that out cuz guess what? I'm taking up a new hobby. Drum roll please======= RUNNING!

Now you may be asking "Why does Deana want to torture herself with a hobby she doesn't enjoy. Does she not have hobbies?" Good question you. Well I do indeed have hobbies I already enjoy. I love being a mom and playing with Noah bug. I love to read, whether it be scriptures, blogs, non fiction, fiction. Its all good to me. I actually read pretty often. I enjoy blogging/journaling as well. Another hobby is being an awesome wife to my awesome husband. Yes this counts as a hobby. It requires attention and is quite enjoyable.  I quite enjoy doing massage, I know this is my second job but its also a hobby. I love taking courses on different modalities and learning new things to do with my profession. With all these other hobbies taking up my time, why do I need another one? There is actually a couple reasons for this insanity. Here they are:
  • I want to be fit and healthy.  
  • I want to challenge myself. I have a full-time job that isn't very challenging. Its an office job where I mostly sit all day. I need something to challenge me and give me something to work at.

  • I want to share a hobby with my hubby. I think its so cute when I see couples out walking or running together. Add a baby in a stroller or toddler on a bike and its even more precious. A family that works out together is healthy together and lives longer. Its true.
  • I want cool accessories. Who doesn't love a good accessory. Running has some fun ones too. Shoes, clothing, apps, water bottles. I may not like the running yet but oh I do love me the accessories. I will do almost anything if it means I get a new outfit!


  • I know its something that I can end up loving. Sean says that running is mostly mental. Yes its hard physically but mostly its getting past that voice in your head saying "kay I'm done, this makes me tired and my chest hurts." When you go past that thought you break through the barrier and your mind just lets go. You have a clear mind and can just focus on the run. I want that. It sounds so peaceful.
I sure hope I get to that point. This is what I feel like after running right now. 


Now I just have to push myself and do it. I made a deal with Jessica that I would run everyday for 2 months! What a goal for someone first starting out right? Go big or go home. She said that if I accomplish it the she will buy me running shoes (accessories!). She doesn't think I'm going to be able to do it. Such faith in her best friend huh? haha Its for good reason though. This isn't my first flirtation with running. We have dated before and broken up many times. I start and then get cold feet and stop. This time is going to be different though. I am committed. Running is going to be in my life. This deal with Jess is extra motivation for me to succeed. Maybe thats her plan? Tell me I can't do it so I want it even more to prove something? Or she just doesn't think I can. haha Either way its motivation so its good. Today is the first day of the challenge. Wish me luck, better yet, wish my poor untrained body luck.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Justin Beiber

The party was a great success! Tons of people showed up and brought yummy food. It was pretty awesome for such short planning. Who is a great party planner? Thats right, this girl :) haha Had to give myself props for this one. With only 3 days notice we had a really good turn out and organization. Hamburgers, hot dogs, turkey burgers, chips and other yumminess. Sean was so happy to see all the people he loves. Of course having the babies all play together was fun to see as always. They are all growing up so fast.Watching Noah play with Wesley and Belle and Spencer was so adorable.  I wish we got some pictures. Sadly we only got one of Sean and his epic cake.

 Kirby got the cake just minutes before the party and all that was there was either little mermaid or this wonderful Justin Beiber cake. haha. So perfect for just a manly man right?

We all just hung out talking eating and watching the cute babies. Its nice when we can all get together and catch up. We have such busy lives with work, school and family and church responsibilities. It's lovely to have a night of just chilaxing.Thanks everyone that came out and Tim and Adriana for offering up their house for the shindig.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Baby Idol

Hey Friends!,
So I entered Noah into a radio contest for cutest baby. The website for voting is mix969.com
Keyword: Baby Idol. Please vote for my Noah bug. He is in gallery 5 baby ID: 121
The winner gets $2000! We could really use the money for Sean's grad school application fees and other school expenses. Of course we would spoil Noah with the winnings too since its his cute face that would be the winner. Please go vote everyday if you can. Spread the word. Noah should be baby idol. You know he is the cutest! :) Thanks a billion. Love ya

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

30 is a big number

Sean is now 30 years old! I can't believe he has made it this long! haha I love making old jokes to him. Its our little thing. I'm only 5 years younger than him but he gets a kick out of the jokes that he is such an old man and I'm his hot young wife. haha It's silly. He isn't too big on birthdays. He loves doing things for me and he is excited to have a party for Noah for his birthdays but when it comes to his, he just doesn't care. He said he stopped caring about birthdays when he was 16ish. Just decided they weren't a big deal. He often forgot his birthday. But since I like to make a big deal of them this is hard for me to be ok with. Yesterday was his 30th birthday and guess what we did? I got off early we met at the house and played with Noah. (that was a blast) Then we put him down for the night and we just hung out watching netfilx and being silly. Nothing special or out of the ordinary. Oh he did stop at Krispy Kreme and get a free dounut on his way home. That was it. He was totally happy with it too! Crazy right? I felt so bad that the only thing he got was a chill day at home with me and Noah and a doughnut. Also married rights... :) But he said he enjoyed his day. I just didn't get it. We were going to go feed the ducks but it was just too dang hot outside. Sean really wanted to do it so we are postponing it til its a little cooler... like 80 instead of 110! Maybe next week. He said Noah would get a kick out of it and he wanted to see his reaction. Such a sweet daddy thinking of Noah :) I love my boys.







Thinking about it now I finally understand. He is just happy to be with the people he loves. I have a simple husband. (not simple minded, he is a genius.) He is easily made happy. This is a good thing. He doesn't need gifts or parties or big dinners. We had soup for dinner last night because thats what he wanted. He just needs love and a good cuddle from his baby man and hot wife. I on the other hand enjoy parties and nice dinners. He knows this so thats what he does. He enjoys simple nights at home so thats what we did.

All that said, that doesn't mean we aren't going to still have a party! haha His friend Tim sent me a text today asking if we could have a party for Sean at his house this Friday. As previously stated, I LOVE PARTIES! So I said of course. I think Tim wanted to show off his newly decorated house but also, and mostly he and his wife Adriana love Sean and want to celebrate his huge birthday. 30 is kind of a big deal! Half way to a senior citizen! So far its just a couple friends and we are going to do a potluck. Should be pretty rockin' though. I'll post about it later.

I'm so lucky to have Sean. He is the most caring, understanding, forgiving, insightful, freaking handsome, loving man I have ever known. He takes care of Noah so wonderfully and he is always here for me. I'm grateful he chose me to be with for eternity. I get to see him get older and older and love him more and more.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Steppin'

Noah is learning how to take steps. He is so big! I can't believe how awesome he is. He can't stand on his own but he loves to be held up by his hands. Also he pulls himself up on furniture. 

 Nice big steps. And even bigger smile :) 



We took Noah and Cortney to the mall play area. Pretty fun time. 


This was where he first started pulling himself up real well.  







I'm so cute! 

Penguin

Noah got his first hair cut! It was getting so long it was starting to fall flat instead of sticking up all fun like. The most amazing hair stylist ever did his hair. Andraya Detrich, she rocks! She is the talented girl that did my hair for our wedding and had done it many times before since I was 12yrs old. Ya she is awesome sauce. And Noah was so good for the cut. He was staring at the all the things on the wall in the room. Such a cutie. Sean held him in his lap so he would feel save. 


 Aren't my boys just the sweetest, most handsome ever!? I know, its true. They are! 
 He got a cute little cape with penguins. He looked adorable in it. 

 I love that face. 



 He was not happy when she pulled out the clippers. It scared him. Poor guy. 


 Checking out his new do. 

Man my little guy is just growing so much! Its crazyness. Such a sweet boy. I love him.