A New Addition

The exciting news in the Norman house is our new addition.  Noah will be a big brother on or around the 20th of June.  We are all very excited and Noah has been trying to crawl into my belly button to see his little brother or sister.

Our little nugget is growing fast and strong.  We have been very lucky to have multiple ultrasounds and the little one looks amazing.  I forgot how powerful the emotions were when you could hear your baby's heartbeat for the very first time.

On the mommy front, we are now about to enter our second trimester and the first was much more difficult than with Noah.  I was exhausted (as I was with Noah) but a 2.5 year old doesn't allow for much down time.  Thankfully my wonderful husband was able to come home early and let me rest and Alejandra had Noah down for his nap when I got home from work.  Also, instead of cravings (pepperchini's with Noah) I had morning sickness that lasted all day and food repulsions.  Thankfully, the hardest part of the pregnancy is over and we can all enjoy this new wonderful adventure.

We are preparing Noah to be a big brother and although he really wont understand what is going on until the baby is here (or until my belly gets big) he is really excited and talks about his brother or sister often even without us prompting him.  Noah is a very sensitive, caring boy and is going to be an incredible (and very protective) brother.

We are so lucky to have very good friends pregnant at the same time so not only can the mommies go thorough the pregnancy together, our babies will be the same age and grow up together.

A Hearty Breakfast

We have been struggling lately to get Noah to eat and have been promising dessert if he eats a decent amount of his dinner.  This morning Hunter made Noah eggs for breakfast and Noah made up his own rules.

Noah:  "Noah eats all his eggs."
Noah:  "NOAH EATS ALL HIS EGGS, I GET ICE-CREAM!!!" (the excitement is pulsing out of him)
Noah: *Shoves all his eggs in his mouth using both hands*
Noah: "NOAH GETS ICE-CREAM!!!!  YAYAYAYAY!!!!"

Hunter says he tried to tell Noah it was too early for ice-cream but after the little guy climbed into the freezer and pulled out the Cookies & Cream to show him which flavor he wanted... well... I don't think we will struggle with breakfast anymore.

Noah's Silly

I had high hopes that once the weather turned cold Noah's habit of going the the bathroom on the fence would be broken.  It turns out that I was sorta right.  Yesterday Noah and Ale had a quiet day at the house and played with toys, worked on their Spanish and stayed warm.  While Ale was in the kitchen cooking lunch she looked over and noticed Noah standing at the back door with it slightly open.  The little turkey had the door open just enough to pee on the back porch all while staying toasty warm inside.  He then looked at Ale with his impish smile and said "Noah's Silly".  I probably would have laughed until I cried also. 

Mommy's Helper

Hunter was getting ready for work this morning when he heard Noah yelling "HELP DADDY".  Hunter searched the house and found Noah in the laundry room standing on the washer holding my bra.  When asked what he was doing, Noah replied "Trying to fold Mommy's boob".

Daddy's Shadow

Noah has been obsessed with lawn care for a while now.  He loves to watch Hunter mow, trim and blow all the debris and even puts his two cents in while on the sidelines.  "Good Job Daddy"  "Now weed-eat"  and "MORE" are some of his favorites. Unfortunately Hunter has had some really bad luck with weed-eaters lately.  We have gone through two just this summer so instead of watching Hunter do the lawn Noah has to pretend he is doing it himself.  He walks around with his weed-eater shaking it and yelling "COME ON!!!".

I Love These Pictures!

A Rough Patch

We are going through a really rough time with Noah right now.  The kid refuses to sleep though the night and it is killing me very slowly and painfully.  We have finally found a routine to get him down at bedtime without a fight.  I will rub his back and then leave the door open and sit on the couch so he can see me.  That way he will fall asleep on his own without the direct presence of Hunter or me.  The problem is the little fiend will sleep for about 4 hours and then the fight begins.  

If I stay in his room until he is asleep he will wake up every hour and come and get me (one habit we are trying to break).  This means I am in his room waiting for him to fall asleep EVERY HOUR. Now, if I don't wait in his room for the heathen to fall back asleep, well, that is where the real problems begin.  

Let's take last night, for example. Noah woke up at 3:00am and I went and sat with him for 5 minutes until I thought he was pretty close to sleep.  Well, he wasn't.  I spent the next 2 1/2 hours trying everything I could the get him back to sleep without me sleeping in his room (the other habit we are trying to break).  Don't get me wrong.  I know we were in a really bad routine and it will take a while to break it and start a new one, I just didn't think he would break ME on the first night.  He refused to go back to his bed unless I took him and then refused to stay in bed unless I stayed there with him.  So, to break down what I tried, I tried rocking him, rubbing his back, talking sweet, talking stern, ignoring him (he just walked around my bed and cried for an hour except when he wedged himself between my bed and night stand and fell asleep for 10 minutes.  Boy was he mad when he woke up).  I tried telling him either go to his bed or sleep on my floor, sleep on the couch or living room.  I even tried shutting my door, but then had to spank him when he went into the backyard (TWICE!) when my door was shut.  Finally at 5:30 am, I begged him to sleep on my floor on a pillow and promised him a blanket if he would just go to sleep.  He did and then I cried myself to sleep.

OK, so what have I NOT thought of?  Any suggestions or advice?  We used to lock him in his room and he did well with that.  When he became more verbal and “aware” of the other options we weaned him off locking him in and he still did really great for a long while.  We can always go back to locking him in his room, but it just feels cruel now that he knows the difference and that he is older.  I don’t really want to scar or scare him.  I just want us all to finally get some sleep.  Have you been thorough the same thing and something has worked for you?