Noah is well!! Okay, not really. But he is so so SO much better. The whites in his eyes are actually white. He is still looking pretty rough but nothing like yesterday or the days before. Its amazing and wonderful what just two days of antibiotics will do. Just looking at the picture of him 2 blog entries ago makes me shutter. I just don't do eyes... especially red, hurting, oozing ones. I remember when I was in nursing school, I was given the option of seeing someone have their lower limb amputated or seeing cataract surgery. I remember thinking that I could handle watching someone's leg being cut off better than seeing someone have their eyes messed with. Ew.

I was able to get a quick charge on the laptop long enough to download some semi-recent pictures. Here's my newly turned 8 month old little girl, showing off her two new additions to her mouth. And she bites too. And it hurts.

Noah again with his full beard. When I say that grow up fast, I wasnt kidding :)

Allen and Noah washing the car together. I forget how much fun this can be for a smaller child... before they realize that what they are doing is called a chore for most of us.

Noah brought out his own car to wash:

Big trucks and his pacifier and blanket. Its where the big boy in him, meets the little baby boy.

Allen is actually spending the night in Newberry tonight. He didnt get off work until midnight and has to be back at 6am tomorrow for the Gilligans Island show. Oh what fun!! He is missed. Goodnight all.

Ive got good news and bad news...

First, the bad news. Severe double ear infection, double eye infection, and one bad looking throat- Noah's diagnosis today.  I would have never known- he was running around, laughing and playing. I really find that children are tougher than adults when they get sick. But oh man, has it gotten hard to take a toddler to the doctor's office. Because he KNOWS. He knows exactly where he is and a general idea of what is going to happen... Someone is going to poke something in his ear and put that cold thing on his chest.  If only he knew his mommy did that kind of stuff for a living. Oh... toddlers. Nevermind that he had an absolute cow in the waiting room because another little child about his age had the same sippy cup as him. Noah was given a script for Augmentin and Im preparing myself for the inevitable blowouts. Please pray that this little boy is feeling better soon though. 

But the good news is... we finally got our taxes done! Whew!! 

Poor little guy

Hey Chuck Norris!

Chuck Norris likes to relax in the bathtub and play with his submarine
after a full body workout on his total gym.

Doesn't Noah look spiffy with his Chuck Nortis beard made out of
icing from Allen's birthday cake? I thought so. See post below.

Two posts in a row may just be a record for me here lately. I realized how much I missed my blog as well as recounting my days, good, bad, or just plain nasty; though I try to leave most of the nasty out (I have yet to mention Noah's pants at a recent outing to Carrabas after we picked him up from his highchair nor the faces of everyone in that restaurant as we walked out and stripped him down to his skibbies in the car... Did I spell skibbies correctly? Is that even a word?).

Juliana is nearly 8 months old (Wow did I just say that? Is my teeny girl almost 8 months old?)  In fact, she has 4 more days before she hits the 8 month mark. Its amazing the difference between Noah and Juliana- they are definitely the "Odd Couple"... as much alike as night and day and it goes beyond looks. Noah loves his sleep and his food, Juliana cares for neither (Once upon a time she loved her sleep, all those many months ago). Noah didn't care too much about being held, Juliana wants to be held constantly. Noah loved his car seat, Juliana hates hers. And the list goes on. We're having a hard time with Juliana eating baby food. She just does not like it. Actually, I'm pretty sure that she hates it. I work so hard with her everyday to get her to eat a bite or two during mealtime. Its so very frustrating, especially when Noah at this point was eating 3 meals a day and loving every bite of it. Juliana cries, flails her arms and legs, spits food back at you. Tell me, is this just a girl thing? I am so in love with this little girl but I sometimes question how I make it through the day (or night) without pulling a few clumps of hair out. She doesn't like to sleep, her naps are sporadic at best. And as soon as we have a schedule worked out for her, she surprises you by waking up a few times in the middle of the night, or sleeping the entire night, or not napping the next day, or taking a 4 hour nap. But back to the food- shes so very small for her age and so I'm really trying not to stress the food so much because I know milk is most important right now so I will probably give it another couple of weeks. But for those that read my post yesterday- Juliana is somewhat better today. She has kept her bottles down and has had no fever but I do believe my child has seasonal allergies. We had a fresh coat of pollen covering everything outside and she had green coming out of both of her eyes and her nose today. I'll have to keep an eye on that. 

But on average, today was a very nice day. We enjoyed the last bit of this warm weather stretch by grabbing a ton of toys and playing outside. I cannot wait until summer. We played trucks and ate lunch and snacks outside. Even Juliana helped herself to a sandwich off of Noah's plate when he took a play break from eating. She has been a bit fussy and was fussing on and off while we were outside. She quit suddenly and I was thinking "Yes, she finally resigned herself to the fact that fussing just isn't going to help her"... but then found her munching on a chicken salad sandwich. Okay, this kid wont eat baby food... or anything age appropriate... but will snag your hamburger, sandwich, oreo, or french fries in a second (and subsequently choke and I mean really choke). I forgot to mention that earlier when talking about her aversion to baby food. We had a wonderful time outside though and Im definitely not looking forward to the rain or cooler weather that is in the forecast. 

Noah also "read" his first words today. We have the "Your Baby Can Read" kit. It was actually a gift, and it was one that I wasn't overly thrilled about getting in the first place. I followed through with watching the DVDs and showing the flash cards to Noah, not because I really cared about him reading at this age (I though it was a bunch of bull to be honest) but because it was a great resource to incorporate new words into his vocabulary and its very educational (And boring... yawwwn!). To my surprise, both kids actually watch the DVD and Noah can pick out a couple of words (By memorizing what the words look like, I still prefer the good old fashioned, CHEAP, way of sounding them out). I do think that its been really beneficial for Noah though. If you've seen the ads on TV or are interested in the program, I have a review ready for you. 

I actually think that was pretty much the extent of my day. Both kids were in bed by 8:30 (gasp!). I call it a success!!

Im alive!

Its been quite some time since my last post. When was my last post actually?! Oh I remember... When Noah was throwing the ABC magnets out the shopping cart at everyone in walmart day before Valentines. Got it now. Wow, nearly a month. My laptop is actually on hiatus right now. Well, my laptop has been out of commission and so I was borrowing my mom's laptop (which she didn't really use until recently... when she discovered facebook) and the charger died on that one. Which has left me using my husband's computer... which too happens to be broken, though usable but not very blog-writing friendly. Before, I would set a mood... I use to get in bed after the kids were asleep when it was nice and quiet, warm and toasty and write. Now I have to sit at the kitchen table (husbands screen wont stay up and has to be "propped" and has so many things attached that it has to remain stationary) and all I can think about is getting the dishes done, or vacuuming the rug, etc etc. It probably doesn't make sense to you, but it does to me! Ive attempted several blogs, I have a list where the saved drafts are... but the ADD that I swear I don't have gets the best of me every time. I end up washing the bottles that I earlier decided could wait until morning or doing laundry or something of that sort. 

Today is my WONDERFUL husbands birthday. Well, actually as of right now- yesterday was his birthday. Twenty-nine years ago (and one day), my husband was born weighing only 3 lbs 4 oz... a bitty preemie, but 100% healthy. I cant tell you how happy I am to have him by my side today. I know I don't give this guy enough credit but he is absolutely wonderful. I couldn't ask for a better husband or a better father for our kids. He is so very patient, not only with the kids but with me and he has the most amazing heart. Happy Birthday my love!! 

For his birthday present, his grandparents offered to take the children overnight on Monday so that we could actually spend some time together without changing diapers, wiping noses, and dragging a tantruming child to time out (This would be Noah of course. Juliana is too young for that wonderful toddler art). They get Noah every now and then but this is the first time in quite a few months that Juliana has been away from me for a night (bittersweet). We ended up grabbing some Mexican food and then just coming back home to enjoy some peace and quiet. Its amazing how much we have changed since having children. Its funny how our idea of having a good time has changed as well. Although I thoroughly enjoyed my evening, I had a hard time with wanting to check on children in their cribs that were tucked in somewhere else. 

Allen's grandparents brought the kids back this afternoon and they looked pretty worn out. Apparently Juliana was quite the problem child and partied like a rock star a few times in the middle of the night and was quite an unhappy little thing and showed her cute diaper padded, frilled behind. Of course, we found out later after she emptied the entire contents of her stomach three times and her temperature began creeping up, that she had a perfectly good reason for showing out.  She has already woken up once tonight and Im doubting that will be the only time. So far Noah seems perfectly fine and happy so I'm crossing my fingers that whatever Juliana has, she doesn't share with him. 

As far as pictures go... I have so many to share! But that will be later. Goodnight!!