Five (OK Six) Things Friday 05.14.10 - I ♥ Etsy

I am pretty sure that I've mentioned a gazillion times that I love Etsy.  And, since Christmas is long gone, I figure I can share a few of my favorite shops.  Be warned though, once you start surfing Etsy it seriously could take up your entire day.  There is so much creative yumminess on this website. 

Lettergirl : Love these stamps.  Ordered these for a couple friends for Christmas, and they are so very cute!

Olliegraphic : Stationary customized to look like your little munchkins.  Precious!

KAH Couture : Nothing cuter than a customized baby wipe case.  This is my go-to baby gift.  I recieved one at my baby shower for Noah (thanks Michelle O.), and I still love it and use it.

Gorno Couture / Sweet Leaf Prints / Mak May Designs : Etsy is a treasure trove of super cute, one-of-a kind children's clothes, especially t-shirts  I have ordered many a t-shirt for Noah from the site.  These ladies are a couple of my favorites. 

Miss Ruby Sue : I love floral headbands, and I think they should never go out of style.  I love the look of these.  They are so pretty and so well made.  It made such a great bridesmaid's gift. 

Annie's Pinking Shear : Although it never got put to use and only got brought to school on day one, this nap blanket is comfy, cozy and oh so adorable.  And, the lady who makes them is super-sweet. 

A Conversation with Noah

This afternoon we were playing outside in the backyard. And, I am ecstatic to report that Noah and I had our first little conversation.


Me: "Oh no. Your slide has water on it."
Noah: "It's wet."
Me: "It is wet. What do we need to do?"
Noah: "Get a napkin."
Me: (I run inside for a napkin and hand it over.) "Here you go Noah.
Noah: "Clean up."
Me: "Let's clean up."

I am so proud of my little man. What a great moment for us! I have a strong feeling that this is just the beginning.

Motherhood is Not For Sissies

It's been one of those weeks where I alternate between thinking, "man, being a mother is really hard," and "seriously, who put me in charge."  But, then I stop and remind myself that I have this awesome little kiddo, who has enriched my life in so many ways, and my life, well, I just can't even begin to imagine it without him.  My dad reminded me today that there is a reason that God choose me to be Noah's Momma, and He has a bigger plan for us.  We just have to trust in the Lord.  You know what though, I think He has a really big plan for Noah, and I.m the one that can help him reach it... I just hope that I can hold up my end of the bargain. 

Five Things Friday 05.07.10 - What He Says

Noah knows a lot of stuff.  His speech therapist said it plainly this week.  Noah has a lot of nouns in his head.  He knows what they are, what they look like, how they relate, what verbs go with them, but he just can't quite put it all together.  Having said that his functional language is improving.  He is now clearly and consistently communicating his wants, and most of the time, a tantrum is not part of this communication.  Yay!  Most of his communication usually centers around food, drink, play preference, and what he wants me to do.  Still Noah mainly communicates through language he has already heard either from me, music, television, etc.  Having said that, he does use most of this rote speech in the proper context and in a functional way.  So, I am hoping as he begins to rely more heavily on expressing himself with words that some original language does start to emerge.  Although Noah is pretty predictable in his speech patterns, it is so great to hear his little voice, and some of our little interactions really make me happy. 

1. Responding to the question, "what color are Momma's eyes?"

Noah: "Nooo.  Not pink."

Me: "Nooo.  Not pink."

Noah: "Nooo.  Not purple."

Me: "Nooo.  Not purple."

Noah: "Brown."

Me: "Right.  Momma's eyes are brown."

2. Said this morning while trying to pull back the covers and drag me out of bed: ♪♪ What's gonna work?  Teamwork.  What's gonna work?  Teamwork. ♪♪ Good functional use of the Wonder Pets theme song, but I stand my ground... that show is terrible.

3. Sometimes Noah gets in and out confused.  And, it's so cute.  Said sometimes in the mornings when I come into his room to get him out of bed, "want come in." 

Me: You want Momma to come in?"

Noah: "Nooo.  Want out."

4. Noah is not a bad eater, but he doesn't really like to try new things.  I usually have to sneak them in between bites of applesauce.  So, the other night while I was feeding him dinner, after two bites of applesauce, I snuck in a bite of chicken stew.  He ate it and then looked at me like I was crazy, and said, "want applesauce!"

5.  Noah's swingset has a 75lb weight limit, so no grownups are allowed on the swings.  Noah is getting better at swinging, but at first, he was always wanting Dean or I to get on with him.  I would tell Noah, "Momma can't swing.  She's too big."  Noah has taken the phrase, "No.  Too big," to mean, "No.  I don't want to do that."  So, when I ask him if he wants to take a shower, he'll say, "Nooo.  Too big."  Or if I ask him if he wants to go to Target, he'll say, "Nooo.  Too big."  Cute!

Morgan Comes to Town

Noah had the best time playing with his sweet cousin Morgan last weekend.  The weather was beautiful, and we got to spend a lot of time outdoors.  She came over from Louisiana, but I am not too sure that she really knew she was in Texas, since she kept informing her dad that she was "going to Miami to see Noah and Sarah Sue Sue."

I forget how much of a monkey my brother's girls can be.  Noah sure learned to be a bit braver on his swing set from watching Morgan.  And, I am going to credit her with finally getting Noah to like to swing like a big boy.  Way to be a good influence, Morgan.

There is nothing better than heading outside to play early in the morning.  Ground still wet with dew.  Kiddos still in pajamas.  Noah and Morgan were in for the same.  Noah got up super early, and I figured Morgan would be a little sleepy.  When she heard us moving around, she popped up and was ready to play.  Can you say "crazy morning hair?" 

All weekend, Noah wanted to be where Morgan was.  There was even a moment where Noah was following Morgan around, and she was moving to a new activity a little too quickly for Noah.  He ran over to her, grabbed her hand and pulled her back.  As any 5 year old would, Morgan did not like being bossed around by Noah, so Noah totally melted down because Morgan wouldn't listen to him.  Never thought I'd be happy about a meltdown, but I was pretty happy that Noah decided to lay one on someone besides his Momma.

Morgan was pretty happy to hang out with Noah too.  She even suffered through a couple of episodes of the Wonder Pets.

And, I have to say one last thing about my little niece... this girl can eat.  In the first 24 hours at my house, she ate a piece of pizza,  a bowl of gumbo, two bowls of potato salad, McDonald's eggs, pancakes and hash browns.  Wondering if some of her good eating habits will rub off on Noah. Can't wait until you visit again, sweet girl.  We had a blast playing with you.

Swimming Swimming

In prep for a summer of fun, I signed Noah up for his first real swim lessons. I chose a local swim club that I had heard rave reviews. The rules of the guppy swim class. 5 days a week for two weeks. No parents in the pool. No refunds. After day two, I realized why.

Noah was so out of his comfort zone, and I just sat and watched from my front row seat in the observation room as my little man struggled with learning to listen in a new and scary environment without Momma. By the end of the first week, the tears were gone, and my hero, Mr. Rudy, had succeded in getting Noah to tolerate floating on his back.

He went from "no no no swimming today" to being the first in line to enter the pool area, yellow chip in hand. By the end of the session, Noah got an award sheet full of smiley faces having completed all the skills for the guppy class: comfortable in water, puts face in water, breath control - bubbles, glides, kicks with barbells, row-row arms, back floats independently, rolls over, turns and climbs out of the pool, retrieves.

Noah and Mr. Rudy. Mr. Rudy was so patient and so calm even with a class full of crying toddlers. I love Mr. Rudy.

High five for a job well done. After every activity, Mr. Rudy asks the kids for a high five. And, he always gets one... tears and all.

Using barbells to kick, kick, kick across the pool.

1,2,3... time to blow bubbles.

I am so proud of my sweet little boy. He did so great, and even ended up enjoying himself by the end. I think it was such a great learning experience for him, and I am pretty impressed at how well he handled it.

Happy Birthday Darren

Dear D,

Today is your birthday, and amazingly enough you are spending it at the "happiest place on Earth."  The very same place that circa 1984, you vehemently proclaimed to Mom and Dad, "why do we have to go to a stupid place like this?"

I am pretty sure you would rather be doing activities like this...

And this...

But, I guess things change we you've got a house full of girls. Well, at least some of the time.

I know how super excited you are to have yet another post on the Internet full of pictures of you, but in the wise words of our big sis... you do not have a blog and you still haven't set up the computer Dad gave your for Christmas.  So, onto the birthday wishes!

Happy Birthday Darren!

Thanks for being such a great big brother.  Well, except for that time in 2nd grade, when I got an F on my math test, and I ripped up the test paper and threw it in the trash, and you pulled it out, taped it back together and showed it to Mom.  I'm sure my payback of writing "Darren wuz here" in lipstick on the bathroom sink made us somewhat even.  I do remember a time when Mom left you home to babysit for me, and you initiated a game of "Barbie has a BBQ at the lake" complete with tiny crumpled toilet paper burgers and duck decoy pencil sharpeners floating in the tub.  I am pretty sure your pencil sharpeners never worked the same after that.  I do have you to thank for my love of rap music. Whodini.  Run DMC.  LL Cool J.  Dean was pretty impressed when we started dating, and I knew all the songs on NWA - Straight Outta Compton.  I love that I made you the best rap mix ever, and when your customers ask you where you got it, you smile and say, "my little sister."  I can't tell you how happy I was when Dean got the "big bro stamp of approval," since previous boyfriends did not fair quite as well.  You, of course, were the cool guy growing up, and I was so proud to have you as my big brother.  I loved following your baseball career mostly so I could secretly crush on all your cute friends.  Nowadays when anyone tells me they love to fish, I am pretty proud to tell them that my big brother is a charter boat captain.  However, the conversation usually deteriorates from there since I don't think I've been fishing with you since that time in the paddle boat at Mr. Eddie's lake back in 2000.  You think you could hook a sister up with a trip.  You have such a loud, fun personality, and every time I am around you, you always make me laugh.  You make Noah laugh too, and I love to see you take the extra effort to engage him and make him notice you.  He can't help but pay attention to his Uncle D.  I love your West Texas hunting trips that include at stop over at our house. I love your cooking, and I wish I was around more often to try your dishes.  Your pork tenderloin spaghetti... mmmmm.  I still owe you a phone call for the next time I pick up some fish from HEB.  I love you Darren, and I hope you have an awesome birthday.

1980s - Waiting for the Easter Bunny/Santa Claus/Tooth Fairy

1996 -  Congratulations hug on the night you and Sarah got engaged.

1996 - Cracking me up for Mardi Gras.

1995 -  Care and I headed out for homecoming.  Did you not own a shirt in the 90s?

2009 - With Noah at Christmas.

2006 - Stuck between two sisters.

2009 - D and Cole.