Noah is Three Months Old!

Where does the time go? It's hard to believe that Noah turned three months old last week. It seriously feels like we were just bringing him home from the hospital not that long ago! He is such a big boy already too!! Our little "fathead" (as we affectionately refer to him based on his big head and overall chub, hehe) gained 1 pound, 6 ounces to weigh in this month at a whopping 14 pounds, 10 ounces (75th to 90th percentile). He grew just half an inch to measure up at 24 inches (50th percentile) as well. I haven't measured his head yet, but I am guessing it is on the higher end of the norm. ;) What can I say, he has inherited the Frank head for sure! I guess that is fitting to take after his namesake, Grandpa John Frank. :) He is definitely our chubby little guy because he is in the 75th to 90th percentile for height-to-weight ratio as well. Ethan was always super tall and skinny and under the 10th percentile for that category, but Noah's thigh rolls confirm that he is packing on more pounds than his big brother did. ;) I love it!  Here is a pic of our little cutie at 3 months old, wearing the 12-month onesie.

And here is a pic of Ethan at 3 months with Noah's pic. I still can't get over how similar they look! Poor Noah appears to be even more bald, which I didn't think was possible. I guess that is another trait inherited from his momma! What little hair he does have is a very nice shade of strawberry blond. His eyes are still very blue and I'm thinking they may actually stay that color. We will see though. It took Ethan's at least 9 months before they started turning brown.

Noah is gaining more personality every day. He loves smiling and laughing at us and has discovered his hands and apparently, how tasty they are! He is sleeping fairly well at night. He sleeps for around 12 hours, but it varies on how many times he wakes up during that period. He has gone 9 hours straight, but not very many times yet. He usually gives me about a 6 hour stretch, then smaller, 2 to 4 hour stretches. He normally takes a pretty decent afternoon nap. I try to time it up with Ethan's naps as often as possible which usually allows me at least an hour or two of peace. Ahhh. He still takes a short morning and evening nap too at this point. He continues to nurse every 2 to 3 hours during the day. You can't get those cute rolls without eating that much! ;) Fortunately he is quick and efficient and only needs 10 minutes to eat! I definitely think he will be ready to start cereal next month. He has already started eyeing our dinner plates and his neck/head control is great. He loves sitting in the bumbo and looking around at everything. He seems to find his big brother to be quite fascinating and loves "playing" cars with him already! :) He has been rolling from his tummy to his back since he was born, but just recently rolled from his back to his stomach for the first time. Unfortunately, we all missed it. :( I had laid him down on his back while I went into the kitchen to get something for Ethan and when I came back around the corner, there he was on his belly!! Silly boy! We're still waiting for him to do that one again. The boy also loves to be naked. He squeals with delight every time it's time to change him! haha. Fortunately for us, he is a good traveler, which has been nice with all of the trips we have been making lately. Hopefully we will soon find a place in Tennessee and we can settle in to a good routine.

Here is an adorable video of Noah's newfound laughter. :)

One more pic of our adorable guys. Ethan (or "Big Boy" as he refers to himself 24/7) has been such a great helper with Noah (which has even included him recently trying to "feed" him with his boobies - too funny!) As I was taking these pics, he was tickling Noah to get him to smile. :) I love these guys!!!

We're Moving!

It's been awhile since I've had a chance to blog, so I am going to take advantage of the fact that both boys are napping at the same time today (woo hoo!) to catch up a bit since I scrubbed the house clean last night after they went to sleep! :)

In case you haven't seen any of my recent FB status updates...we're moving! And that is the reason I have been a bit busy lately. Searching for houses is hard work! So we made it almost three years in this house. It was the same for our Kentucky house - just a few months shy of it. I think it will be much harder to make the move this time though (not just logistically, based on the two extra little people we have now, but sentimentally as well). We love our gorgeous house, the wonderful neighbors and friends we have made here and the beautiful Georgia weather (most of the time)! ;) This is the only house the boys have known. It's kind of crazy to think that I was still pregnant with Ethan when we first moved in. So much has happened and changed since then!! Just this year we had finally painted most of the rooms, did a complete remodel of our yard and built an outdoor building. The house/yard is looking fantastic! Go figure.

Aside from the house, we now have a 2.5 year-old toddler and a 2-month-old infant to keep us busy. They are the reason for our move. We decided that having Josh take a job with a better work-life balance was what we needed now that our family continues to grow. Josh genuinely liked his job and co-workers at Kia and really enjoyed what he did there, but the 65-70 hr weeks were starting to be too much and were not allowing him much time to spend with his family.

He wasn't really looking seriously for a new job, but when he was contacted by a recruiter (while we were still in the hospital, the day after Noah was born) about his new position, he was open to interviewing with them. After a couple of phone interviews, they invited him up for a day-long interview in August. We all made the trip north to Kingsport, TN, where we met both sets of grandparents, eager to see the grandkids. We looked around at the housing in the area, enjoyed a delicious dinner with one of the guys Josh is working for, and Josh completed his interview. It was an interesting weekend in the hotel room with a 4-week-old eating round the clock and a 2-year-old who has always had his own super quiet room (and hadn't slept away from home in 8 months). When he woke up with Josh on that Monday morning around 5:45, I caved and let him crash in bed with me. At that point, sleep was necessary, no matter where it occurred! All went well and Josh apparently made a good impression as he was offered the position a couple weeks later. After much consideration, we decided the offer was too good to pass up. The promise of a great salary, possibility of awesome bonuses and raises, incredible work hours (four 9's and one 4), and a relocation package out of this world was enough to convince us that is was time to move on. His new position at Eastman Chemical will be a research and development position, working with the raw materials that go into paints, so it will be a move out of the automotive industry. A bit intimidating to leave something that you are so familiar with, but exciting nonetheless.

Josh started his new job on October 3rd. So far, so good. He thinks that it will be a good position once he gets all settled in. He has been doing a lot of orientation/training stuff for now. It is definitely a different experience for him working with a bunch of PhD guys and having his own huge office (complete with nameplate on the door)! ;) So far they have been very accommodating with his schedule, which allows him to come back to Georgia every weekend.

We all went up the last week of September to hunt for houses. Grandma Frank came along to help watch Ethan and Daisy at the hotel so that Josh and I could search a little easier. Thanks Mom!! We went out with a realtor all four days we were there and saw at least 53 houses. Ugh. It was a bit disappointing to discover that to get a house and land comparable to what we have here in Georgia we would have to pay almost double for it. Sigh. We're still searching for the perfect house/lot, but have a few on our short list of houses to look at again. We are considering building again if our search doesn't turn up something perfect soon. Maybe we are too picky? Just seems silly to pay an insane amount of money for a house that still needs thousands and thousands of dollars of work yet too! :( Hopefully our perfect home will turn up on the market soon!

We have had two showings now on our house here in Georgia. One of those was this morning, so I have yet to hear how it went. We were told the other showing (last week) went great and that the couple wanted to make an offer, but then they had a death in the family and we haven't heard anything from them since then. Hopefully we will hear something soon so that we can get this house sold! It will be a bittersweet moment for sure, but at this point we are ready to be reunited again in Tennessee. The boys and Daisy and I are staying here at the house in GA while Josh is living in an apartment in Tennessee. We felt it would be easier for me to take care of them here with all of their stuff vs. cramming all of us into a 2 bdrm apartment. This is my first week alone with them and so far we are surviving. We'll see how long that lasts! ;)

Well, I think that pretty much sums up what we have been up to lately. Hopefully I will soon be writing to say we have completed the move!

Noah's Two-Month Check-Up

I took Noah for his two-month check-up this afternoon, a week after he hit the two-month mark. This was our last visit to this office before our move next month. It figures that just as we found a great new pediatrician in town, it would be time to move again! After a 2+ hour visit though today, I am hoping we find an office with shorter wait times in Tennessee!!


Again, his doctor thought he was doing great. Since his last check at one month, he gained 2 lbs, 11 oz, to weigh in at an impressive 13 lbs, 4 oz, which is in the 75th-90th percentile. He measured up at 23.5 inches (75th percentile) and his head is now 40.5 cm (75th percentile). Today he had to get his first round of shots. Poor guy. He actually did really well with them though. He cried for just a minute, then was content in my arms. By the time we made it out the door and to the van he was all smiles again! Sadly though, he seemed to be affected tonight. He lost his appetite and was running a low-grade fever. I am hoping he is feeling better in the morning.

Below is a pic of Noah at two months, wearing a 12-month onesie. It's amazing how much they change in the first first few months! He is starting to smile and coo much more now, which makes it so much fun interacting with him. He is also a great sleeper like his big brother. He sleeps all night for 12+ hours, waking just a couple times to eat normally. Just this week he has given me two 8-hour stretches though (his previous record was just under 6 hrs)! :) Now I just need to make myself go to bed earlier... ;) Noah has been a bit more high-maintenance than his big brother though. If he is awake, he wants to be held. I do get brief breaks from the vibrating bouncer that he enjoys, but most of the day you'll find me holding him while trying to read/play with Ethan with my free hand!

Just for fun, I decided to compare Ethan and Noah's pics to see how the two differ. Surprisingly, they actually look much more similar than I thought! I guess there is no denying they are brothers! They were similar in size as well. Ethan at 12 lbs, 11 oz and 22 inches to Noah's 13 lbs, 4 oz and 23.5 inches.

Red, Red Wine...

...you make me feel so fine! ;) I like wine. I love sangria. I am a big fan of the red sangrias at Carrabba's and Olive Garden. I love the pairing of fresh fruit with a nice full-bodied red wine. So when I saw a recipe for a sangria on 'Ten Dollar Dinners' I had to try it. I have loved all of Melissa D'Arabian's recipes that I have tried so far, so I was hoping this one would not disappoint me either. The recipe was actually for a non-alcoholic sangria, but since I'm not pregnant anymore and the tiny man gives me 4 to 5 hour stretches of sleep at night, I decided a little wine wouldn't hurt. ;)

I started the sangria (click here for the full recipe) early in the day by getting all the fruit and juice prepared so that all of the flavors could meld together.  Below is a pic of all of the ingredients I used.

I peeled, cored and thinly sliced an apple. I used a Golden Delicious because that is what I had in the fridge.

Then I juiced one lemon and poured this over the apple slices. Next I peeled a tangelo (I used this instead of an orange because I love their flavor) and added these slices to the mix. Then I juiced an additional tangelo and added that in too. After that it was time to add the fruit juice concentrate. The recipe calls for 3/4 cup of cranberry-grape juice frozen concentrate, but I couldn't find this at the store, so I used 1/2 cup of grape juice frozen concentrate and 1/2 cup of raspberry-pomegranate frozen concentrate. The last thing to add at this point was a dash of ground cinnamon. Once I mixed everything up in the pitcher, I put it in the fridge to chill all day.

Later in the day I added in the wine that I wanted to use. I chose a cabernet sauvignon (instead of a white wine like the recipe calls for) because I thought it would balance the sweetness of all the fruit and juice and I prefer a red sangria to a white one. I added in 1 1/2 cups of this and allowed it to continue to sit in the fridge. Once I was ready to serve it, I added in 1 1/2 cups of seltzer water and mixed everything together well. A few ice cubes in the glasses and it was ready to go!

I must say that it was one of the best sangrias I have had and at a price tag much nicer than you will find at any restaurant too! :) This will definitely be one I make again. Let me know if you try it and any variations you use!!

Some Like it Hot!

Hot, hot, hot!! That is how I would describe the poblano pesto that I made for dinner tonight. After watching an episode of 'Ten Dollar Dinners' this weekend with another one of my favorite Food Network Stars, Melissa D'Arabian, I decided to give the meal a try. On the menu: sliced sirloin steak topped with the poblano pesto and a sweet potato-beet hash on the side.

I started with the sweet potato-beet hash (click here for the full recipe) by peeling and dicing the veggies (I had 3 small ones of each). I coated them in some olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. I roasted them for 40 minutes (they took longer, I think, because they were diced a bit bigger than they should have been) in a 400-degree oven.

While the veggies were roasting, I fried up 5 slices of bacon (cut into 1-inch pieces) in a skillet (instead of the one slice the recipe calls for), then diced up a small onion and continued cooking everything until it was browned.

After the veggies were done, I tossed them into the pan with the bacon and onion and mixed it all up to coat everything. Unfortunately, as I was working on another part of the meal, the onions and bacon browned a bit more than they should have, but fortunately they were still salvageable. The hash was really good. What isn't good with bacon and onions?? I have never had beets and I didn't anticipate that I would like them, but roasted, they were actually pretty good. Not as good as the sweet potatoes, but not bad. :) They made for a pretty dish, but when I make this again, I may leave the beets out.

For the poblano pesto (click here for the full recipe), Josh charred the poblanos (I used 3 small ones) on the grill until blackened on all sides. Once they were done, I placed them in a bowl and covered it to allow them to steam, as instructed. Once they had set for about 5 minutes, I peeled off the blackened parts, removed the seeds and core, and chopped them roughly. Unfortunately, these particular poblanos were pretty hot ones because my poor fingers are still burning from touching them!! :( I put the poblanos in my food processor and added in the other ingredients: 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup fresh cilantro (chopped roughly), 2 cloves garlic (chopped coarsely), 1 tsp chili powder (I used this instead of the 1 Tbsp the recipe called for after reading the reviews), 1/2 cup olive oil (I prefer olive oil to the vegetable oil the recipe called for), and a dash of salt.

I blended it all together and the finished product was INCREDIBLE! It definitely had a kick to it and I am glad I opted for just 1 tsp of the chili powder. It was so good that Josh and I have already been brainstorming other items we could top with it! :)

As I was finishing up the pesto, Josh grilled the sirloin steaks to perfection. After letting them rest for 5 minutes, he sliced them up and then we topped the slices with the pesto and enjoyed our dinner! Stay tuned, I am hoping to try out her other recipe from that episode for a fruity sangria tomorrow night! ;)

A Good German Meal

One of my favorite shows to watch in the summer is The Next Food Network Star. This year, Jeff Mauro, self-proclaimed 'Sandwich King,' was crowned the winner. He was fun to watch on the show so I decided to start DVRing his show, Sandwich King, on Sunday mornings. On one of his recent shows, he cooked up a tasty looking German meal. With our German roots and Josh's love of German food, I decided to give it a go this week. The menu included schnitzel biscuits topped with braised cabbage and raspberry mayo with warm potato salad on the side. While Ethan looks eager to eat in this picture, he sadly wouldn't try any of it. :(

For the schnitzel (see full recipe here), I bought a pound of regular pork chops (didn't figure I needed an entire pork loin for our small family), soaked them in the brining liquid (3 Tbsp salt, 1 Tbsp sugar and 6 cups water), then cut each one in half and pounded them to the desired thickness. I followed the rest of the directions, dipping them in flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs. I let them fry for 3 minutes on each side in a little bit of vegetable oil. They browned a bit more than I would have preferred, but they worked.

I cheated with the buttermilk biscuits. I bought a package from Publix because 1) I love their baked goods and 2) I knew it would save me quite a bit of time. Even with Josh off work this week, I have limited time between feedings of Noah in which to accomplish things, so I try to keep dinnertime as quick and simple as I can so I can eat in peace. :)

The raspberry mayo was easy and a great addition. I used Miracle Whip (about 1/2 cup instead of 1 cup), raspberry preserves (probably 2 Tbsp instead of 1 Tbsp), 1 Tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice and 1/2 tsp lemon zest. Looking at the recipe now, I realize I forgot to add 1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper. It was good without it though - and I am not a fan of mayo! :)

The braised cabbage was to be added to the sandwich and served on the side as well. I bought a head of red cabbage and sliced it thinly. I melted the 2 Tbsp butter and added in the 1 tsp caraway seeds. Next, I added the cabbage to the butter and cooked until wilted (5 min) as instructed. The next step was to add 3/4 cup apple cider and 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar and let it simmer for 15 minutes until soft and supple. I didn't have any cider, so I used apple juice instead. Not sure how this affected the flavor, but Josh wasn't super excited about how the cabbage tasted, so it's probably not something I would make again. I tried one tiny bite and just like any other cabbage I have ever tried, I didn't like it, so I passed on adding it to my sandwich.

The last element was the warm potato salad (see full recipe here). I used about a pound of red potatoes (instead of 2 lbs), scrubbed and quartered. I let these simmer for 15 minutes until tender. While those were cooking, I fried up 8 ounces of thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch strips. Once it was done, I sauteed the onion (1 small yellow onion, diced) in the bacon fat, until golden. Then I added in the 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar and 1/3 cup of the cooking water (from the potatoes). I let all this simmer until it thickened slightly (about 10 minutes). After that, I added in the 1 Tbsp of whole grain German mustard, some salt and pepper. I tossed all of that with the potatoes and bacon and it was ready. I left out the 1-1/2 Tbsp of fresh tarragon, because he described it as tasting like black licorice, which I am not a fan of at all. The potato salad was a hit and definitely something I would make again, even if not with this meal.

Here is a pic of the completed plate...

And a close-up of the tasty sandwich...

I loved the combination of the soft biscuit, crunchy schnitzel and creamy mayo. Delicious! If you like German food, you should definitely try these recipes. Let me know what you think. :) Even with the two of us eating, there were enough leftovers for two days for both of us! Definitely a meal I would consider making for company.

Welcome, Noah!

We finally got around to having newborn/family pictures made when Noah was five weeks old. I found a great photographer, Amy, of Dewdrops by Amy, in Auburn, and we got some great shots. Fortunately Amy was patient with us, as Noah did not want to go to sleep for his pics! I guess it's like when the day comes to go to the doctor, you finally feel better. Well, Noah normally loved to sleep all day, but not this day! :( As you can see though, once we finally got him to sleep, we were able to take some great pictures. Here are a few more of my favorites from the day...

Sweet baby Noah is getting big so quickly!!

Noah's One-Month Check-Up

I took Noah for his one-month check-up a couple weeks ago. I know, I am a bit behind. That happens when you're still adjusting to taking care of two little ones! His doctor thought he was doing great. Since his check one week after being born, he gained 2 lbs, 8 ozs, to weigh in at an impressive 10 lbs, 9 ozs, which is in the 50th-75th percentile. I didn't get the measurements for his length and head circumference (I was a bit frazzled after he decided to both explode poo and shoot pee everywhere on the exam table while I was changing his diaper), so I will have to get those at our next check-up. I also got him a prescription of Zantac to help with his reflux. The boy can explode like a mix between Old Faithful and The Exorcist. It isn't pretty. Everything else looked and sounded good though, so now we go back in a few weeks for his two-month check-up when he will get his first round of shots! :(

Below is a pic of Noah at one month, wearing a 12-month onesie. I will be taking a pic each month in this onesie to show how much he grows each month - just like I did for Ethan. Noah is a much chunkier little guy than his big brother was and is already filling out the onesie quite nicely through the middle! haha! It could be interesting to see if it still fits at 12 months!

Noah's Birth Story

I want to capture all of the details of Noah's birth before I forget them (I'm not getting any younger!), so here goes...Warning, it may be too much info for some! ;)

Due on July 12th with our second son, I went in for my 40-week OB visit on the 13th. I was still dilated 3 cm (as I had been the week before) and my cervix was still soft and thick. My OB and I had previously discussed that he wouldn't let me go past 41 weeks with my pregnancy because that is when problems usually start to happen in pregnancies. So, I knew induction could be a possibility for this pregnancy as well. I was induced with Ethan 9 days after my due date (with him arriving 10 days after it), so I figured this little guy wasn't in any rush to exit the womb either. Apparently I have the world's most comfy uterus! Go figure. I really, really wanted to wait and see if Noah would come on his own, but at the same time, I was super miserable and ready to meet the little guy. When my OB asked if I was ready to have this baby, I said yes, so he checked his schedule and told me to be at the hospital the next morning at 6 am to induce! I think I was in shock as I left the office and it didn't hit me for a bit that I was going to have this baby so soon. I started to have second thoughts and considered calling them back to say I wanted to wait. After all, I still had 6 days before I would reach 41 weeks. But, I decided to go ahead with the plan (since I was continuing to get more and more miserable with each day) and at 5 am the next morning I called the hospital, as instructed, to be sure they had a room available. I guess this was protocol in case 10 women happened to all go into labor the same night in our small town of ~25,000 people. ;) They said it was a go, so Josh and I got ready and made our way to the hospital. It took what seemed like forever to get registered and then we were on our way upstairs to the Labor & Delivery area!

We made our way to the Labor & Delivery Suite 4 where I changed into my gown and made myself as comfortable as one can make oneself on a hospital bed. The nurse came in and went through all the pertinent info and then they tried to start my IV. I have horrible veins. It is a curse that I inherited from my father. :( I have been told that they are very tiny and wind around a lot. She tried to get one into my left arm with no luck, then my left hand. Still nothing. My veins even managed to bend the needle. Seriously? The pain was nothing compared to what was to come, but still annoying nonetheless. Finally another nurse came in and was able to get one going on my right hand. Whew. Unfortunately, I had a huge bruise on my left arm for well over a week from her efforts. With the IV finally in place, they started pumping the Pitocin into me at 7 am. Awesome. I managed to go my entire 40-week pregnancy (and in the middle of summer too) without any swelling, but by the end of the day, I was super swollen from all of the fluids they kept flowing into me the whole day. At 8 am, my doctor arrived to check me and break my water and get things going. Upon his check, I was still dilated to just 3 cm and my cervix was soft, but still pretty thick. He had trouble breaking the amniotic sac and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to have bad luck all day?? The nurse was convinced I was going to have my baby before lunchtime. Hmm, little did she know...

Things started to progress...sloooooowly. I was contracting pretty good, but nothing too intense or painful at first. Around noon they really started to hurt and I requested some pain meds for my IV. They gave me some Stadol and about 5 minutes later I was regretting it. The medicine made me absolutely loopy (and nauseated to boot) and I could barely hold my eyes open. :( It was kind of like an out of body experience. I guess I even asked Josh how soon the medicine would wear off because I just wanted to go back to feeling normal again. Apparently, Noah was not a fan of the drugs either because they caused his heart rate to slow and the nurse was concerned. She put an oxygen mask on me to help, but his heart rate still wasn't improving, so she advised no more pain meds in my IV. Wonderful. A little before 2 pm the medicine wore off and I began to feel the pain of the contractions again. By this point it was very intense. I was still not progressing very quickly and I was stuck at 6 cm. After another couple hours of enduring the pain, the nurse recommended that I get an epidural. She had said earlier in the day that she had never seen anyone not get an epidural when they were induced with the Pitocin. She said that because I was in so much pain, that my body was focusing on that instead of allowing me to progress. So, after a lot of consideration and consultation with anesthesia, I decided to go ahead and get an epidural. This was never an option with my first pregnancy as the anesthesiologists at the Newnan Piedmont Hospital said they would not give me one because I have two protruding discs in my lumbar spine. I let these doctors know about it, so they were a bit reluctant to give me one as well, but in the end decided they would do it. Finally, by 4:30 pm they did the injection and I started to feel some relief again. By a little after 5 pm, I had finally progressed to 10 cm and was feeling the urge to push! That was quick!

My doctor finished delivering another baby and made his way to my room. Having done this once before, I knew how miserable the pushing part was and I really wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. While the epidural had been helping take the edge off of the pain from the contractions, it definitely did not get rid of the pain of the pushing. I felt everything! Thankfully though, it only took 3 or 4 rounds of 3 or 4 pushes (about 10 minutes I think) and he was here at 5:20 pm!!

Daddy cut the cord...

...and he was placed in my arms!

He weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces and measured 20.5 inches long. His head was 14.25 inches around.

He was absolutely perfect!!

I can't say enough wonderful things about the doctors and nurses at West Georgia Health. The whole experience was sooooo much better than the one we had in Newnan with Ethan. The nurses were incredible and super helpful and we left much happier. All of the nurses involved in my care even sent me a card after I was home congratulating us on our new addition. How sweet of them!! One of them also followed up with me the following week with a phone call to make sure all was going well. These things would have been awesome to have had the first time around when I had no idea what I was doing! haha! The hospital itself was great too, from the L&D room to the recovery room.

So overall, the experience was a much better one than what I endured with Ethan. My body recovered much, much quicker too. Though I did spend 2 nights in the hospital this time (I had only spent one night there with Ethan), I was feeling pretty awesome by the time I was discharged. Once home I continued to do well and just two weeks after delivering I am almost back to my pre-pregnancy weight! Just 2-3 pounds to go! :) I attribute this in part to Noah's very voracious appetite. Fortunately for both of us, nursing came much easier this time too. With Ethan, we had to supplement one bottle in the evenings when he was little because I couldn't produce enough for him. So far for Noah I haven't had any problems making enough milk. When we left the hospital on Saturday, he had dropped in weight to 7 lbs, 6 ozs, but by his first check-up on that Wednesday (just 4 days later), he was back up to 8 lbs, 1 oz!! Yep, my milk is like liquid gold!! But, it does seem like I may be eating/drinking something he doesn't like. He has developed into quite the fussy little guy in the evenings now (even more so than what Ethan was) and has enough gas for all of us. Poor guy! :( He appears to still be getting enough to eat (despite the large amounts he is spitting back up) because he is filling out nicely, but we will see for sure next week at his one-month check-up. Where does the time go??

Ethan is adjusting well to becoming a big brother I think. Though he still isn't interested in holding Noah, he does give him hugs and kisses, so that works for now. :) He is good about sharing his cars with him and has been a super great helper here at the house for me! He loves helping to push him in the stroller on our walks...

And entertaining him when he gets fussy...

We are adjusting to being a family of five now (yep, gotta count our Daisy!) and we're excited about what the future holds for us!

My 30th Birthday and 40 Weeks

Needless to say it has been a very busy few weeks and now I need to play catch-up! I celebrated my 30th birthday on the 8th and just a few days later I was 40 weeks pregnant on the 12th!! Add in Josh and I's 6th wedding anniversary on the 16th and it was quite the eventful week for the Seeley family.

With my birthday being so close to my due date, making a trip to the beach to celebrate (like we did for Josh's 30th birthday last August) was not going to be possible. But, Josh and I managed to escape for the day by ourselves since my mother was in town to watch Ethan. Our mission for the day was to check out tablets so that I could decide what I wanted for my birthday present! After much searching and comparing, I finally settled on what I originally thought that I wanted - an iPad2. :) Yeah, I'm kind of an Apple snob. We managed to find the one in particular that we wanted at just one store (the 32 GB, black one without 3G service) and I came home a happy lady!

Here it is in all of it's glory! :)

Yes, I'll admit that I am quite addicted to it already. There is an unbelievable number of totally cool apps available out there for the iPad and I am just getting started downloading them all! :) My current favorite is Similac's Baby Journal (hmm, I wonder why?). With it, I am able to track every diaper change (charting if it's #1, #2 or both and even the consistency and color!) Sorry, TMI? ;) It also tracks sleep time and nursing time (and also helps this mommy remember which side I need to start on). It charts everything and gives me averages - for example, tiny man is currently averaging exactly 2 hrs between feedings. His longest stretch of sleep so far is 4 hours and 34 minutes and he's averaging 9 diaper changes in a 24 hour period. Wow. So this may not be the coolest app for most people, but for mamas of newborns it is amazing!! :)

I also downloaded some fun apps for Ethan. I found a couple free flash card apps (eFlashEnglish and Parents Flash Cards) so that Ethan can work on words - a really great distraction while waiting for dinner or at a doctor's office! I also discovered that there is an app (OverDrive) that lets me check-out ebooks from our local library. You can only keep a max of 5 books for a 7-day period, but they have a decent selection of books for both Ethan and I to read.

Another one of my favorites is Dropbox. It gives you 2 GB of space (for free, or you can pay to up that amount) to put files, pics, songs, etc and makes them accessible to all of your other computers (when you download the Dropbox on those computers too) via the internet. This allows you to get files off of the iPad and onto your other computers easily, without having to sync to iTunes. Super helpful!

Skype is another essential app for us. We love being able to video chat with our families who live hundreds of miles away and the 2 cameras on the iPad2 make it extra easy to do this.

I like the Photoshop Express app for doing basic photo editing, Evernote for organizing my thoughts and ideas for projects and Dragon Dictation for dictating notes. Kayak also has an app for finding the best deals on flights and hotels. The Weather+ and Weather HD apps are also nice for quick looks at the local weather forecast.

More cool apps include barcode scanners (ShopSavvy and pic2shop). You can scan anything that has a UPC barcode and it will pull up the item and tell you where you can find it and for how much (both in local stores and online). Yay for saving money!

Then there are apps that are just for fun when you're bored...a labyrinth game; Virtuoso, which is a virtual keyboard to play; Shazam, which will listen to songs/music and tell you what the song is; Pandora, for listening to music; and abc and tv.com (cbs) have players for streaming their TV shows.

Some good food-related apps include Epicurious, which has lots of great recipes with the ability to search for recipes by ingredient; Foodspotting, for finding and spotting great dishes wherever you are; and Weight Watchers Mobile, which for members, gives you lots of options for tracking your points and also offers recipes too. Whew! So much fun and productivity in a cute, portable package. :)

As for the rest of my birthday, Josh, Ethan, my mom and I had a nice dinner at a local restaurant, Brickhouse Grille & Tavern. For dessert, a lemon meringue pie, of course. I even got some help from Ethan with my candles. ;) It was a nice birthday spent with my favorite people!

As I said earlier, I reached my 40-week due date just days after my birthday. Huge and miserable I went to my OB check-up the next day and we decided to induce the following day! Wow. Coming soon...the birth story! For now, here is a fun picture comparing my baby bumps at 40 weeks with both pregnancies. The bumps are pretty similar (I gained 30 lbs with the first and 28 lbs with the second), but my hair is quite different!